Leonardo DiCaprio will make his return in The Revenant
The Revenant, based on Michael Punke's 2002 novel, The Revenant: A Novel of Revenge, has been a twinkle in Iñárritu's eye since 2011, but has been in development for more than a decade in total. It now has a screenplay by the director and Mark L Smith, the writer of Vacany and The Hole.
Punke's book is set in 1823 in the areas of North America that now make up North and South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming and Nebraska. It centres on 36-year-old Hugh Glass, a real-life figure, who joins the Rocky Mountain Fur Co on a journey into the wild. After being mauled by a bear, he is left at the mercy of two would-be rescuers who later steal his belongings and abandon him when their camp is attacked by Native American raiders. Glass must then travel the 350-mile journey back to civilisation through perilous territory. Iñárritu, who directed Amores Perros and Babel, plans a September shoot for the film adaptation, and is aiming for an autumn 2015 release date.
DiCaprio enjoyed critical acclaim for The Wolf of Wall Street. Scorsese's highest-grossing film was nominated for five Oscars in January, including best actor for DiCaprio, best film and best director. But the film-makers emerged empty handed from the Dolby theatre in Los Angeles last month, a disappointment that some observers blamed on the controversies surrounding the film. DiCaprio was beaten to what would have been his first Oscar win by The Dallas Buyers Club's Matthew McConaughey
