The Wrap has learned that Warner Bros., Leonardo DiCaprio's Appian Way banner and Kevin McCormick‘s Langley Park shingle are trying to snag BLACK MASS and OUT OF THE FURNACE director Scott Cooper to helm AMERICAN WOLF, a film based on material from Texas Monthly senior editor Nate Blakeslee. Cooper is in talks to direct the true-life flick, which will follow the hunter who accidentally killed an endangered Yellowstone National Park American wolf, and the unlikely friendship he formed with one of the wildlife researchers.
The film tells the story of O-Six, aka 832F, who was considered the world’s most famous wild animal in some circles. The female alpha wolf was collared and tracked by researchers at Yellowstone and gained a huge following from both researchers and the public. She was shot by a hunter in 2012 just outside the park’s boundaries — an act that caused howls around the country despite its legality and earned O-Six an obituary in the New York Times. “American Wolf” will chronicle the impact that O-Six had on the humans around her and the vilified hunter who remains unnamed to this day, effectively making the movie a murder mystery of sorts.
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I'm not that surprised a project of this type is moving forward, not only due to Leonardo DiCaprio being a conservationist (a couple of months ago his foundation provided $15 million in grants to various organizations), but also because of the recent death of Cecil the Lion, who was also killed by a hunter outside of a park. Although right now DiCaprio is only attached to AMERICAN WOLF as a producer, it's possible he could end up starring in the film as well.
Scott Cooper's BLACK MASS starring Johnny Depp, Benedict Cumberbatch, Joel Edgerton, Dakota Johnson and Kevin Bacon will be in theaters on September 18, 2015.
