Leonardo DiCaprio to star in 'The Devil in the White City'

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 11 (UPI) -- Leonardo DiCaprio will star in an upcoming adaptation of The Devil in the White City.

The 40-year-old actor will portray a fictionalized version of real-life serial killer Dr. H.H. Holmes. The movie is based on the Erik Larson book of the same name, which explores Holmes' crimes during the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago.

Martin Scorsese, who previously directed DiCaprio in Gangs of New York, The Aviator, The Departed, Shutter Island and The Wolf of Wall Street, will helm the film. The actor has been attached to the project since 2010.

The Devil in the White City intertwines the stories of Holmes and World's Fair chief architect Daniel Burnham. Holmes, born Herman Webster Mudgett, killed between 27 and 200 people at his hotel, later dubbed the "Murder Castle," during the World's Fair.

DiCaprio will next appear in Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu revenge thriller The Revenant with Tom Hardy. Scorsese is also directing an adaptation of Shusaku Endo novel Silence with Andrew Garfield, and executive producing new HBO musical drama Vinyl.