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Leonardo DiCaprio acquires rights to produce Volkswagen scandal film

By Wade Sheridan
Actor Leonardo DiCaprio arrives on the red carpet at the 86th Academy Awards at the Hollywood and Highland Center in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles on March 2, 2014. The actor has now acquired the book rights to produce a film on the ongoing Volkswagen emissions scandal. File Photo by UPI/Jim Ruymen
1 of 3 | Actor Leonardo DiCaprio arrives on the red carpet at the 86th Academy Awards at the Hollywood and Highland Center in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles on March 2, 2014. The actor has now acquired the book rights to produce a film on the ongoing Volkswagen emissions scandal. File Photo by UPI/Jim Ruymen | License Photo

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 13 (UPI) -- Leonardo DiCaprio has acquired the book rights to produce a film based on the ongoing Volkswagen Clean Diesel scandal, according to reports.

DiCaprio's production company Appian Way finalized the deal along with Paramount Pictures to obtain the rights to a book proposal by Jack Ewing, a European economics correspondent who has been covering the scandal for the New York Times.

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The book will focus on the illegal software Volkswagen put into their cars to cheat emissions tests in order to meet standards put in place by the Environmental Protection Agency.

The scandal has forced Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn to resign as the German car manufacture faces up to $18 billion in fines. Michael Horn, chief executive officer of Volkswagen's operations in the United States, apologized for the illegal software during a Congressional hearing Thursday.

"On behalf of our company, and my colleagues in Germany, I would like to offer a sincere apology for Volkswagen's use of a software program that served to defeat the regular emissions testing regime," he said before the House Energy and Commerce Committee's oversight panel. "These events are deeply troubling. I did not think that something like this was possible at the Volkswagen Group. We have broken the trust of our customers, dealerships, and employees, as well as the public and regulators."

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DiCaprio can next be seen in director Alejandro Inarritu's wilderness revenge tale, The Revenant out Dec. 25.

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