Disney’s 20th Century Studios is saying “aloha” to Martin Scorsese‘s Hawaii-set crime thriller starring Dwayne Johnson, Leonardo DiCaprio and Emily Blunt (with whom the concept and film idea originated).
Journalist and author Nick Bilton will pen the script for the film, which will be based on a forthcoming book he’s co-authored with Johnson.
“In 1960s and ’70s Hawaii, a formidable and charismatic mob boss rises to build the islands’ most powerful criminal empire, waging a brutal war against mainland corporations and rival syndicates while fighting to preserve his ancestral land,” the film’s official logline reads. “Based on the untold true story of a man who fought to preserve his homeland through a ruthless quest for absolute power — igniting the last great American mob saga, where the war for cultural survival takes place in the unlikeliest of places: paradise.”
Producers include Scorsese for Sikelia Productions, Johnson for Seven Bucks Productions, DiCaprio for Appian Way Productions, Blunt for Ledbury Productions, and Bilton for True Story Productions. Seven Bucks Productions co-founder Dany Garcia, Sikelia Productions’ Lisa Frechette and LBI Entertainment’s Rick Yorn and Chris Donnelly are executive producers.
The film will be distributed by 20th Century Studios. David Greenbaum, President of Disney Live Action and 20th Century Studios and Steve Asbell, president of 20th Century Studios, will be overseeing for the studio.
Earlier this year, Disney and Seven Bucks Productions, co-founded by Garcia and Johnson, signed a first-look deal. Under the arrangement, Garcia, Johnson and Seven Bucks Productions will develop films for theatrical and streaming.
Deadline was first to report the news.
