News about Volkswagen's deceptive diesel emissions broke only a few weeks ago, but Hollywood has already taken notice, and has fast-tracked a flick about the scandal. Now, one of the industry's hottest stars is set to produce the film.

According to Variety, Leonardo DiCaprio has just signed on to produce the as-yet-untitled project for Paramount Pictures, through his Appian Way company. It's unclear at this time if DiCaprio also intends to star in the movie, which so far does not have any actors or a director attached.

The flick will be based on a forthcoming book about the scandal written by New York Times journalist Jack Ewing. Variety reports that the book details how Volkswagen "placed illegal software in their clean diesel cars that could tell when a car was being tested for fuel emissions and would turn on the emissions control to cheat the test and meet EPA standards. During normal driving conditions, emission control software was shut off — resulting in as much as 40 times more pollution than allowed by law."

The scandal has already led to the resignation of Volkswagen's CEO, Martin Winterkorn. The company is also facing fines of up to $18 billion from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

This film is just the latest high-profile project for DiCaprio's company, which also produced his Oscar-nominated flick "The Wolf of Wall Street." There's been no word yet on a projected release date or production timetable; stay tuned.

[via: Variety]

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