Disturbia director D.J. Caruso has signed on to direct the adaptation of Josh Bazell’s mob-flavoured suspense novel Beat The Reaper.
Leonardo DiCaprio is the rights holder, having snapped them up for his Appian Way production company a few years ago, and is keen to star if his schedule permits it.
Reaper follows the travails of 14-year-old Pietro Brwna (pronounced Browna), who’s taken in by a mob family after his grandparents are gunned down by thugs.
When Pietro gets revenge on his grandparents’ killers one year later, he’s enlisted by the mob as a hitman. Years later, he's esacped their grip and become a doctor. But once you’re in, can you ever get out?
The first in a series of novels, Reaper could end up being the first in a profitable movie franchise if it does well. Kind of like the anti- Bourne .
Presumably DiCaprio would play the older Pietro, with a lookalike youngling playing the 14-year-old version of the character.
Caruso’s next film, sci-fi book adap I Am Number Four , opens later this month.
