‘The Revenant’ star Leonardo DiCaprio is attached to produce and star in ‘The Black Hand,’ an adaptation of Stephan Talty‘s upcoming book detailing the true story of America’s battle against organized crime.
DiCaprio will take on the role of Joe Petrosino, an Italian-born NYPD detective who gave his life trying to stop the mafia in the early 1900s. Dubbed the “Italian Sherlock Holmes,” Petrosino was a famously dogged and ingenious detective, and a master of disguise.
As the crimes grew ever more bizarre and the ruthless gang’s (whose calling card was a black hand) activities spread far beyond New York’s borders, Petrosino and the all-Italian police squad he assembled raced to capture members of the secret criminal society before the country’s anti-immigrant tremors exploded into catastrophe.
DiCaprio and Appian Way partner Jennifer Davisson will produce the gripping drama with Ellen Goldsmith-Vein and Jeremy Bell of The Gotham Group.