DiCaprio in talks to star in €30m Boru epic

OSCAR nominee Leonardo DiCaprio is in talks to star in a €30 million movie to be filmed in Ireland.

The 32-year-old Hollywood giant, who received his third Oscar nomination for Best Actor in Blood Diamond, is being lined up to star as Brian Boru in an epic new movie called Freedom Within the Heart which will be shot in West Cork and Kerry next year.

Los Angeles-based Cork-born film maker Mark Mahon confirmed yesterday that he is in talks with DiCaprio. He expects the talks to conclude within eight weeks.

Vinnie Jones has already confirmed that he will play the role of Ivor of Limerick — the arch enemy of the last High King of Ireland.

Mr Mahon said the new movie will feature several large-scale battle scenes which will be filmed in West Cork.

They will be on the same scale as gruesome battle scenes filmed on the Curragh by Mel Gibson for his blockbuster Braveheart.

Mr Mahon, who shot Strength and Honour in Cork last year with Richard Chamberlain, Michael Madsen and Vinnie Jones, won a Best Screenplay Unproduced award for the Brian Boru script at the prestigious International Action On Film Awards in 2005.

“We hope to begin filming in March 2008. There will be some huge battle scenes so we will be using lots of local people as extras, similar to what we did in the last film. This time however, instead of needing dozens of extras, we will need hundreds,” he said.

Casting sessions for local actors for the new movie are expected to take place in Cork later this year.