via The Guardian:
The success of HBO’s ROME series (as well as that of the movie Gladiator in 2000) has revived interest in movies and TV shows about ancient Rome. Now, another one may be in the making. Hollywood rumor suggests that Leonardo DiCaprio may star in a big-screen version of I, Claudius, as the rights to Robert Graves’s have been obtained by veteran producer Scott Rudin. According to a story in the Hollywood Reporter, DiCaprio and screenwriter William Monahan are currently circling the project. The pair last collaborated on Martin Scorsese’s Oscar-winning crime drama The Departed.
Written by Robert Graves and first published in 1934, I, Claudius is a literary epic purporting to be the autobiography of the fourth emperor of Rome, who ruled from AD 41-54. The saga details the political machinations at work within the Empire in the first century AD. Graves’ tale was first adapted by director Josef von Sternberg in 1937, with Charles Laughton in the title role. In 1976 it was overhauled as an acclaimed BBC miniseries, starring Derek Jacobi and John Hurt.
The latest version of I, Claudius has yet to find an official studio home. However, the Hollywood Reporter suggests the most likely backers are the Disney divisions Touchstone or Miramax, pointing out that Rudin’s production company is based on the Disney lot.
