Leonardo DiCaprio has been trying for nearly twenty years to get multiple personality disorder film The Crowded Room off the ground, and his perseverance is finally paying off. The adaptation of Daniel Keyes' 1981 book, The Minds of Billy Milligan, is moving forward with a pair of new writers and a producing partnership between New Regency and DiCaprio's Appian Way.
DiCaprio would be taking on the role of Milligan, who in 1977 became the first person to successfully use multiple personality disorder as a legal defense. He had been charged with robbery and for a series of rapes on the Ohio State University campus. He was diagnosed with MPD and plead insanity, claiming that two of his other personalities committed the crimes without his knowledge.
Jason Smilovic (Lucky Number Slevin) and Todd Katzberg have been brought on to pen the screenplay. James Cameron once considered directing it but for now there is no director attached. Could this finally be the role that earns DiCaprio his first Oscar? It's way too early to tell and a lot will depend on the screenplay and director, but DiCaprio didn't spend so much time on this film for nothing. [TheWrap]
