Leonardo DiCaprio Is Already Producing a Movie About the VW Diesel Scandal

The scandal isn't even over yet.

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Complex Original

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Never underestimate Hollywood's thirst. Anytime a scandal breaks in the real world, it's easy to imagine studio execs and producers rubbing their fingers together like Mr. Burns as they plot a winter-release, Oscar-bait adaptation filled with A-listers and an overwrought script. But damn, I thought they at least waited for the dust to settle before they descended upon scandals buying up rights and securing greenlights. Apparently, that's not the case anymore. Your boy Leo DiCaprio—who is seemingly every bit as adept in the producer game as he is a thespian—has just secured the rights to adapt Jack Ewing's upcoming book on the Volkswagen clean diesel scandal.

Some backstory, for those who aren't privy: basically Volkswagen rigged their clean diesel cars with software that could manipulate fuel emissions tests and thus pass the Environmental Protection Agency's standards. Now that their dirty practices are out Volkswagen stock is the opposite of way up, and they could end up paying the EPA up to $18 billion in fines. The scandal is so egregious the whole state of the German car industry is up in the air.

But the keywords here are "upcoming book" and "up in the air." Which is to say, Leo just copped the rights to a book that is not even finished, which 'covers' a scandal that is not yet over, lmao. Expect the announcement about Oliver Stone's 2016 election film any day now.

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