Editorial Staff
“Wolf of Wall Street” co-stars Leonardo DiCaprio (and by the looks of it – anyone see their “Saturday Night Live” routine? – new best buds) and Jonah Hill are to reunite for the true story of Richard Jewell, the security guard suspected of terrorism at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
Says THR, Fox has obtained the rights to the Vanity Fair article “The Ballad of Richard Jewell” for the duo to star in and produce. Hill would play the role of Jewell, with DiCaprio as his lawyer.
Jewell was working as a security guard at the ’96 Summer Games when he discovered a backpack containing pipe bombs, subsequently sounding the alarm and helping to clear the area. However, the bomb did detonate, killing one person and injuring dozens of others.
Initially hailed as a hero, Jewell was soon the prime suspect, as the FBI searched his home twice. A media frenzy painted him as an overweight failed cop and mama’s boy, and he became the punchline for late-night jokes.
After being raked over the coals by the media, Jewell was cleared, but the damage had been done. Lawsuits followed (against NBC and CNN, among several others), and the FBI and other government agencies were forced to make public apologies.
Jewell died in 2007 at the age of 44, due to his weight.
