DiCaprio goes for Diamonds

Leonardo DiCaprio may just be a Diamond in the rough. The Oscar-nominated actor, last seen as Howard Hughes in the biopic The Aviator, has started negotiations with Warner Bros. Pictures to star in the dramatic thriller The Blood Diamond, to be directed by Ed Zwick.

Leonardo DiCaprio is lining up his next project, a dramatic thriller called The Blood Diamond, according to Variety. The project, formerly titled Diamond will be helmed by Last Samurai helmer Ed Zwick. He rewrote the latest draft with Marshall Herskovitz.

The film was originally developed by Warners-based producer Paula Weinstein, who brought aboard Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz to rewrite it. Along the way, Zwick (”The Last Samurai,” “The Siege”) became so interested in the African adventure, he agreed to direct as well.

DiCaprio will be playing a smuggler who specializes in the sale of “conflict diamonds” or “blood diamonds” – precious stones used by the warring parties to fund their operations. When the smuggler meets a local Mende farmer whose young son has been forced into the RUF army, the two men’s fates become intertwined.

DiCaprio is currently shooting the Martin Scorsese thriller The Departed, also for Warners, and the studio hopes to shoot Diamond early next year so that DiCaprio can star in the studio’s For Whom the Bell Tolls. Other recent DiCaprio credits include Catch Me If You Can and Gangs of New York. He earned an Oscar nod for his work in The Aviator and another for his work in 1993’s What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?.

Lensing is scheduled to begin early next year.