Filmmaker Clint Eastwood is circling to direct a Billy Ray-scripted untitled project about Richard Jewell, the heroic security guard who discovered a suspicious backpack in the Olympics compound during the 1996 games in Atlanta.
Jewell, who will be played by Jonah Hill, was vilified as a suspect, reported Deadline.
Actor Leonardo DiCaprio is likely to play the Southern lawyer, who helped Jewell navigate that period of his life.
The film is based on Marie Brenner's 1997 Vanity Fair article The Ballad Of Richard Jewell. The lawyer that DiCaprio might play knew Jewell casually and mostly did real estate closings.
He seemed over his head, but guided Jewell through the demoralising nightmare that signalled the downside of the advent of the 24-hour news cycle. The FBI finally cleared Jewell three months later.
