‘Black Mass’ Director to Take on ‘American Wolf’ Hunting Drama for Leonardo DiCaprio

Black Mass hits theaters in a few weeks, and it promises to be one of the most compelling crime dramas of the year with a potential, long-awaited return to form for Johnny Depp (no silly hats!). Director Scott Cooper has already attracted some very good company for his next project, American Wolf, which will be produced by Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way.

According to The Wrap, Cooper is set to direct American Wolf for Appian Way and Warner Bros. Based on a book proposal by Texas Monthly senior editor Nate Blakeslee, the story centers on a hunter who unwittingly kills an endangered wolf in Yellowstone national park and subsequently forms an unlikely friendship with a wildlife researcher who specializes in the park’s wolves.

American Wolf is based on the true story of a wild female wolf named O-Six, aka 832F, who rose to popularity among both experts and the general public alike. After venturing outside the boundaries of the park in 2012, O-Six was shot and killed by an oblivious hunter. The identity of that hunter has remained secret since the incident.

Hunting stories are not unfamiliar to DiCaprio, who appears next opposite Tom Hardy in The Revenant, Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu’s new film based on the true story of a trapper seeking revenge after his companions left him for dead.