If you were to hear about this news story partway through a game of telephone, you might think that there was an origin film coming out about the teenage mutant ninja turtle Leonardo from the creative team behind The Last of Us and Stranger Things — but alas, none of those things are true (at least, not yet — this is Hollywood, so that movie package could be assembling itself as we speak). For now, the actual news is that a film is in the works about Leonardo da Vinci from the director of the British film All of Us Strangers.
Leonardo da Vinci — who could be described in today's parlance as the GOAT of the Renaissance — had a biography about him published in 2017 by the present-day GOAT of biographers, Walter Isaacson.
Isaacson has also famously written the life tales of Elon Musk, Albert Einstein and Steve Jobs, with the Steve Jobs biography being adapted into a Universal film in 2015 written by Aaron Sorkin and directed by Danny Boyle.
It should come as no surprise then that a bidding war ensued when the Leonardo da Vinci book came out, and as reported in Variety, Paramount outbid Universal for the rights. The studio then spent years developing the project with Leonardo DiCaprio (Get it? ‘Cause they're both named Leonardo!), but ultimately the project went into turnaround.
Surprisingly, there was little fanfare when Universal acquired the rights last year.
Now Variety exclusively is reporting that the director of All of Us Strangers, Andrew Haigh, has been hired to write and direct an adaptation of Walter Isaacson's Leonardo da Vinci.
The book is based on the proliferation of notebook pages left from Leonardo da Vinci, in addition to new research and discoveries regarding his life and work. It covers his artistic masterpieces, such as the Mona Lisa painting in Paris' the Louvre Museum. It also details Leonardo da Vinci's numerous adventures and inventions as a scientist.
The Italian artistic and scientific genius lived during the peak of the European Renaissance movement, from 1452-1519.
Filmmaker Andrew Haigh might also be described as a renaissance man of sorts, considering his varied resumé. Early in his career, Haigh worked in television as the head writer-director on the HBO show Looking. From there, he directed such films as Lean on Pete and 45 Years, the latter of which led to an Oscar nomination for star Charlotte Rampling for best actress. All of Us Strangers, which came out in 2023, is largely considered to be Haigh's most respected film yet, landing six BAFTA nominations and three Independent Spirit Awards nominations.
Sounds like Universal now has all the creative pieces in place necessary to make an artistic masterpiece about the man behind many artistic masterpieces, Leonardo da Vinci. And if not, hopefully they'll at least recoup the budget down the road from toy sales for the inevitable Leonardo the ninja turtle origin pic (which you heard about here first!).