Skip to main content

DiCaprio and Ray Donovan writer to collaborate on Showtime mafia series

dicaprio to helm showtime mafia drama series shutterstock 259540676
Tinseltown / Shutterstock.com
Leonardo DiCaprio is set to executive produce a new untitled mafia drama set in 1980s Brooklyn for Showtime. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the series will delve into a relationship between a mafia captain and a rogue federal agent, each breaking the rules to carry out their strange partnership.

It’s a story that sounds eerily familiar to both the Scorsese mafia picture starring DiCaprio, The Departed, and the new Johnny Depp feature, Black Mass, which are based loosely, and directly on crime boss/informant Whitey Bulger’s life respectively.

It’s unclear whether DiCaprio, who last appeared in a recurring role on the small screen 25 years ago as Luke Brower on Growing Pains, will also star in the series, but his turns on The Departed, and the more recent feature, The Wolf of Wall Street, will surely make him an asset to the production, on or off camera. The latter film may be doubly relevant, as THR claims the series will delve into the connection between the “Wall Street era” and the mafia at the height of ’80s commercialism.

The five-time Academy Award-nominated actor/producer will team up with writer Brett Johnson, best known for TV crime drama Ray Donovan and period drama Mad Men. Johnson will also executive produce alongside Jennifer Davisson Killoran, Bryan Zuriff (Ray Donovan), Charles Pacheco, Jennifer Erwin, and Dan Pearson.

In March, DiCaprio announced that his production company Appian Way will work with Netflix on a series of environmental and conservation-focused documentaries. That deal comes after the DiCaprio-Netflix doc Virunga was nominated for an Academy Award this year. Also upcoming for Appian Way is a TV adaptation of Simon Toyne’s supernatural thriller The Searcher.

DiCaprio will also co-star in Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s gritty and dark survival thriller The Revenant with Tom Hardy, which debuts on Christmas, and a new Martin Scorsese film, The Devil in the White City

Editors' Recommendations

Chris Leo Palermino
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Chris Leo Palermino is a music, tech, business, and culture journalist based between New York and Boston. He also contributes…
The best movies on Max right now
Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson as two lighthouse keepers in The Lighthouse.

Max is a go-to platform for streaming the best movies thanks to its accessibility and its countless hours' worth of content. Beyond quantity, the streamer's greatest strength is the diversity of the films in its catalog.

Every kind of fan will find their niches catered to, with Max's library spanning fantasy, sci-fi, comedies, dramas, and more. Still, the sheer amount of content available can intimidate new subscribers. Thankfully, this monthly-updated guide combs through the service's selection to highlight some of the best movies to watch on Max right now.

Read more
Everything you need to know about Yellowstone season 5, part 2
Kevin Costner in Yellowstone.

Kevin Costner recently unveiled the first look at his upcoming multipart Western Horizon: An American Saga. However, for the vast majority of Yellowstone fans, the only saga they want is the conclusion of the Dutton family's story and a glimpse of what comes next. Costner reinvigorated his career by headlining Yellowstone as John Dutton, but his clashes with Paramount Network and showrunner Taylor Sheridan have left Costner's future with the franchise in question.

Although we're still several months away from the return of the series, we're sharing everything we know about Yellowstone season 5, part 2. And we'll keep updating this post when anything newsworthy comes up.
Will Kevin Costner return for Yellowstone season 5, part 2?

Read more
Everything you need to know about Yellowstone season 6
The cast of Yellowstone.

Since its premiere in 2018, Yellowstone has been a breakout hit for The Paramount Network and one of the most popular shows on TV. Taylor Sheridan's modern Western also revitalized Kevin Costner's career by placing him in the lead as John Dutton, the patriarch of the Dutton family, who own the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch, one of the largest ranches in Montana.

The fifth season of Yellowstone premiered in 2022, but the future of the series and the franchise were called into question when reports emerged that Costner was leaving the show and Paramount Network had already ordered a sequel series that will continue without Costner's involvement. To bring everyone up to speed, here's everything you need to know about the future of Yellowstone.
Will there be a sixth season of Yellowstone?
Sort of, but not something labeled as Yellowstone season 6. The six remaining episodes of Yellowstone are still technically part of the fifth season, or season 5B, as Paramount has called it. But at the same time that Paramount confirmed the end of Yellowstone, the studio also announced that a contemporary spinoff is on the way that will feature many of the show's current cast members.

Read more