It’s been a work in progress for almost two years now, but the Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, and Tom Hardy produced anti-poaching drama for Warner Bro has found a writer. Deadline reports that Will Staples will write the screenplay for the three who might also star in the film which is said to be in vein of TRAFFIC. The story will focus on the global market of poaching including individuals, executives, and the marketplace.
The film will have multiple strands spread around the world, tracing supply and demand for animals slain, stripped and sold for fortunes in places like China. The characters range from the back-room dealings of corrupt executives, to a portrait of the life of a poacher, to others involved in the underbelly of a global scourge that occurs not only in the jungles but also the oceans, where illegal shark fishing runs rampant.
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Will Staples is pretty popular these days; he wrote for the Call of Duty video games and worked on the screenplay for MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 5. If anyone can match the intensity and reality of TRAFFIC, they would have a winner on their hands. After sitting for years I would like to see this movie get rolling right away. If you keep your ear to the sort of thing actors are passionate about or follow them on Twitter (Leo!), you would know that the actors involved here are passionate about the issue portrayed here which could only help the project become that more important to get right.
Oddly enough though, Deadline confirms that DiCaprio, Maguire, and Hardy are still working with Warner Bros. on a separate animal trafficking movie written by Sheldon Turner (UP IN THE AIR). The movie will star Hardy as a former Special Forces soldier who trains rangers to battle the poachers that are decimating the rhino and elephant populations in Zimbabwe.
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