Leonardo DiCaprio is reportedly looking to produce and star in a film about two young black brothers in the racially segregated southern US who were kidnapped and displayed as circus freaks.

The boys appeared as monstrous performers such as 'sheep-headed cannibals' or 'ambassadors from Mars'

DiCaprio’s production company Appian Way and Paramount are negotiating the rights to Beth Macy’s non-fiction book Truevine. According to Deadline, DiCaprio will produce the film and develop it as a potential star vehicle for himself.

The story concerns two young albino black boys in Jim Crow-era Virginia who were either kidnapped or sent into the circus by their mother in 1899. They lost touch with her and became famous performers, appearing as monstrous caricatures such as “sheep-headed cannibals” or “ambassadors from Mars”.



They appeared all over the world, including at Buckingham Palace and Madison Square Garden, and were eventually reunited with their mother after 28 years apart. Macy’s book was released in the US on Tuesday.

Earlier this week it was announced that DiCaprio was also planning to produce a film adaptation of the 1990s children’s cartoon show Captain Planet, about a superhero who fights pollution.