Graham Moore Set to Write THE DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY Adaption; Leonardo DiCaprio Attached to Star

Warner Brothers has slated the Black List screenwriter to work on the adaption of Erik Larson's New York Times Bestseller about the 1893 Chicago World's Fair and one of America's most storied serial killers.

Their fates were linked by the magical Chicago World’s Fair of 1893, nicknamed the “White City” for its majestic beauty. Architect Daniel Burnham built it; serial killer Dr. H. H. Holmes used it to lure victims to his World’s Fair Hotel, designed for murder. Both men left behind them a powerful legacy, one of brilliance and energy, the other of sorrow and darkness.

Here, then, is your ticket to the greatest fair in history—a place where incredible dreams came to life alongside darkest nightmares.

With Devil in The White City, this will be the second project in which Graham Moore collaborates with the studio and Leonardo DiCaprio, who is name attached to star as the notorious murderer Holmes in this project and as the persecuted homosexual English mathematician Alan Turing in The Imitation Game. The latter marked the writer's feature debut, which was the top script on The Black List and also landed him a 7-figure spec deal in the process.

Moore compared the two historical figures, “Turing was this British mathematician who on the outside wasn’t likeable at all, who was difficult and a bit rude, but who was a great human being inside. Holmes was a most likable guy who inwardly was a tremendous monster. I’m drawn to stories where the role of villain and hero get murky and I thought it would be different to tell the Holmes story from his perspective, and put a little humanity into him."

Dicaprio will also be producing the Erik Larson adaption via his Appian Way banner alongside business partner Jennifer Killoran. Double Features' Michael Shamberg and Stacey Sher will co-produce.