Usually when forming a mental image of the infamous historical figure Rasputin, often drawn upon for folkloric stories and evil Disney characters, you don't exactly think of Hollywood hunk Leonardo DiCaprio, but apparently some executive producers out there do.

News is Warner Bros. Studios has pitched a film based on the shady character with Leo as the lead. Sure Leo likes to stretch those acting loins and aside from his dashing looks this is why everyone loves him, but this better not be a case of the ill-chosen going fugly for the sake of it. Many an actor has seen the distraction of exaggerated ugliness as a sure fire way of getting attention come awards season, so let's just hope Leo hasn't been mislead by any such empty notions.

With American Sniper director Jason Hall as the screenwriter for the possible new flick, Deadline has reported that the film is to cover the story of the Russian royalty's adviser and mystic, and the controversy that surrounded him until his murder at the hands of his many rivals. We smell an Oscar coming on, if Leo can manage to pin down that accent as well as he did for Blood Diamond.