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Deadline is reporting this week that Leonardo DiCaprio is in early talks to star as J. Edgar Hoover in Clint Eastwood’s Hoover biopic. DiCaprio is said to be interested in starring in this period flick about the early years of the  FBI.

Eastwood will of course direct. Brian Grazer had tried to interest Universal in the film but the studio wasn’t anxious to take on a period piece. They weren’t convinced of it’s box office potential. Grazer then took the script written by Dustin Lance Black to Eastwood.

The film will be produced by Eastwood , Grazer with Rob Lorenzo through Imagine and Malpaso. Imagine had the project in development for a year and brought it to Universal. They weren’t interested so Warner Bros. is on board instead.  Grazer worked with Eastwood on The Changeling.

Eastwood is no stranger to the challenges of period films and I think he’s the right director for this project. It’s also a challenge for DiCaprio on the scale of The Aviator in which he portrayed Howard Hughes. Hoover isn’t a sympathetic figure. The founding father of the FBI used the bureau as a bludgeon against US citizens. He used, or I would say misused the FBI to investigate and harass political activists, compiled files on political figures and private citizens. He was, in short, a corrupt egomaniac.

It’s not clear how much the film will cover of Hoover’s life. Is it just the young Hoover or will DiCarprio be playing him in his later years?

Do you think Eastwood’s the right director and DiCaprio the right actor for this epic look at Hoover and the FBI?