Leonardo DiCaprio has revealed that he will star in the upcoming movie adaptation of non-fiction story The Devil in the White City.

The Oscar-nominated "Inception" star will play Dr. HH Holmes, America's first serial killer, in the big screen adaptation of Erik Larson's 2003 non-fiction book "The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair That Changed America," it was announced on Monday.

The story tells the tale of two men, Daniel H. Burnham and Dr H.H. Holmes. Burnham was the architect behind the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. Meanwhile, Holmes was a serial killer pretending to be a doctor. Holmes used the fair to slaughter his victims in his 'Murder Castle', a structure containing a gas chamber, dissection table and a crematorium.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, DiCaprio will play the homicidal Dr Holmes in the movie. He will also produce the project with his partner Jennifer Killoran through his production company Appian Way.

"I think that a guy who is that intelligent and that charismatic is nothing less than complex, and it's that complexity that DiCaprio is drawn to," Killoran said of DiCaprio's decision to star in the project.

"And because people don't know much about Holmes, it makes it even more interesting."

Holmes is believed to have killed anywhere from 27-200 people in Chicago while the city played host to the World's Fair of 1893. While local authorities concerned themselves with more pressing matters, Holmes operated The World's Fair Hotel, a Bates Motel of sorts where the doctor lured young women in order to murder and mutilate them.

The role represents a welcome change of pace for DiCaprio, who has never really played a villain. The actor has long been interested in playing Holmes, having set up a rival project based on public domain materials after Tom Cruise pounced on Larson's book back in 2003.

Source: Press Release