Bradley Cooper in early talks to replace DiCaprio in Nightmare Alley

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

As Marvel actor Bradley Cooper prepares to come aboard the production of director Gavin O' Connor's war drama ATLANTIC WALL, it's been announced that the A STAR IS BORN filmmaker is in early talks to replace Leonardo DiCaprio in Guillermo del Toro's NIGHTMARE ALLEY. Sources close to the trash panda actor say that Cooper has recently received an offer to assume DiCaprio's role, who ended up passing on the project after a deal could not be sealed.

Directing the NIGHTMARE ALLEY drama is THE SHAPE OF WATER mastermind Guillermo del Toro, who will co-write the script alongside Kim Morgan. The feature project being produced and financed by del Toro and J. Miles Dale with TSG Entertainment, is set in 1974, and will be loosely based on author William Lindsay Gresham's novel of the same name. Variety, who exclusively broke the news about Cooper's possible involvement in the project says that the 1974 version of NIGHTMARE ALLEY "starred Tyrone Power as an ambitious young con-man who teams up with a female psychiatrist who is even more corrupt than he is. At first, they enjoy success fleecing people with their mentalist act, but then she turns the tables on him, out-manipulating the manipulator."

Before shooting on the NIGHTMARE ALLEY project begins this fall, del Toro still has plenty of projects coming down the line, such as SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK, which is set to spook moviegoers on August 9th. In looking at the famed filmmaker's other endeavors, we find del Toro lending his talents to WIZARDS, the third installment of his TROLL HUNTERS animated series for Dreamworks and Netflix. Guillermo is also gearing up to co-direct and pen a darker version of the classic fairy tale PINOCCHIO, the wooden puppet that transforms into a real boy. Another project on the horizon for del Toro is the TV series WOLVES AND VILLAGERS with Naomi Watts set to star.

While we're waiting for Cooper to join the production of NIGHTMARE ALLEY, be sure to check out SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK when it begins haunting theaters on August 9th.