Leonard DiCaprio to Star as Teddy Roosevelt in Martin Scorsese’s Roosevelt

Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: Leonard DiCaprio is going to star in a movie, Martin Scorsese is going to direct it, and movie magic is going to ensue.

DiCaprio will star as Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt in Scorsese’s new historical drama Roosevelt, with someone named Scott Bloom handling script duties, as first reported by Deadline. DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson will produce under their Appian Way banner, as will Scorsese and Emma Koskoff through Sikelia, and Chuck Pacheco. Roosevelt landed at Paramount via Appian’s first-look deal with the studio.

If DiCaprio and Scorsese are angling for Oscar gold here, they’re doing a fine job of it. We wouldn’t bet against them, either: The all-star actor/director duo have teamed up on five excellent films so far, including Gangs of New York, The Aviator, Shutter Island, The Departed and The Wolf Of Wall Street. They’re also working on adaptations of two best-selling books: Erik Larson’s The Devil in the White City and David Grann’s Killers of The Flower Moon.

Roosevelt was our 26th president, and the youngest in history at age 42, which bodes well for DiCaprio—now the exact same age—and his ability to portray the war hero, political titan and accomplished conservationist. That last bit, by the way, is what attracted DiCaprio—himself an avowed environmentalist—to the role of Roosevelt; according to Deadline, this is actually DiCaprio’s second go at playing the man, after a previous attempt didn’t work out. Only time will tell if Roosevelt will land DiCaprio another statue.