Will His New Movie Win Him An Oscar At Long Last?

Will this be his Oscar moment? Let's not start placing any bets quite just yet. We do know that Leonardo DiCaprio will be starring in the new thriller The Revenant, which will be directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, but we should probably just skip the Oscar conversation at this point. Why beat a dead horse, ya know? We love you anyway, Leo, no matter how many times you lose.

The movie will be based on Michael Punke's novel, The Revenant: A Novel Of Revenge. It's about a 19th century fur trapper who does not have it so easy. A bear mauls him (oh, that sucks), and his compatriots rob him (that sucks, too). In a surprising turn of events, he survives, and then decides that it's time to get revenge on those folks who wronged him. (I'm assuming that Leo will play the guy who gets mauled in the face.)

Okay — so I know I said we'd skip the Oscar conversation, but this film does contain some definite Oscar bait. I mean, if you uglify yourself, isn't that kind of a plea for an Oscar? Charlize Theron went from glam to drab and gained some weight — and then won the Academy Award for Monster. Anne Hathaway chopped off all of her hair for Les Miserables . Essentially, it's a recipe for success (and a success for the makeup department). So if Leo walks around looking like a bear attacked him in the face... could this mean he'll win an award at long last? Or will some other actor outdo him and play someone who gets mauled in the face by two bears? The guy can't win.

Regardless, the movie, which has been acquired by New Regency and will be released by Fox, is set to begin production this September for a 2015 release date. No word yet if the bears will be real or CGI — but I'll definitely let you know on the status of the bears if by some chance I find out.

I'll also bet you a quarter that if it's a real bear, the bear will get nominated for an Oscar and win.