Chi-Town Murders: Leonardo DiCaprio is going to play the legendary nineteenth-century Chicago serial killer Dr. HH Holmes in the movie adaptation of the Erik Larson nonfiction best seller The Devil in the White City. DiCaprio and Jennifer Killoran, his partner in Appian Way, his production company, teamed up with Double Features to buy the rights. It takes place in the shadow of the 1893 World’s Fair of Chicago. [Deadline]
Baby’s Got a Brand-New Dad: The Australian actor Joel Edgerton will play the male lead opposite Jennifer Garner in The Odd Life of Timothy Green, the Pete Hedges–directed fable about a child-prodigy musician. Edgerton and Garner will play a childless couple who “bury all their wishes for a baby in a box in their backyard.†The script is by Ahmet Zappa. Edgerton, a relative unknown, takes a role that was previously associated with names like Mark Wahlberg and Joaquin Phoenix (!). [HR]
The Commish-ette:Mark Gordon, the producer of dramas like Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice, and Criminal Minds, has signed a deal with ABC to make a drama about a female New York City police commissioner. It’s called One Police Plaza, and Linda Fairstein, the mystery novelist and former chief of the Manhattan DAâ€s sex-crimes unit, will be one of the writers. [Deadline]
That’s Not a Dealbreaker, Ladies: Remember the short-lived Liz Lemon show Dealbreakers? Well, that has nothing to do with Dealbreaker, the comedy based on a blog that ABC just picked up. It does mean that in a world where $#*! My Dad Says is a breakout star, coming from the Internet is not a, well, you know. [Deadline]
Dark Ball: Paramount bought a movie pitch from Alan Ball (True Blood, Six Feet Under, America Beauty). There aren’t many details, but the project, which Ball will direct and Elan Mastai will write, is a (surprise!) “dark comedy with a twist.†[Deadline]