The Oscar-winning writer of Gladiator has sparked a whitewashing outcry after saying that he wants Leonardo DiCaprio to play Persian poet Jalaluddin al-Rumi in a new film about his life.
Despite their failure to consider Persian actors for their Rumi movie, Franzoni and Brown have been undertaking thorough research into their subject matter.
There is no planned release date as of yet and DiCaprio has not commented on Franzoni’s intention to cast him.
Although shooting is not likely to start until next year at the earliest, Franzoni and Brown intend to approach DiCaprio and Robert Downey Jr for the parts of Rumi and Iranian mystic Shams of Tabriz respectively.