Jared Leto to star as Andy Warhol in biopic

‘Suicide Squad’ star Jared Leto has signed on to play legendary artist Andy Warhol in a biopic set to be written by 'The Wolf of Wall Street’s Terence Winter.

Winter’s screenplay will be based on Victor Bockris’s 1989 biography about the famed Pop Art maestro, the rights to which Leto acquired.

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According to The Hollywood Reporter this is something of a passion project for Leto, who had been eyeing the rights to a Warhol biopic for some time.

The 44-year-old will produce the film as well, with Michael De Luca, whose credits include 'Captain Phillips’ and 'The Social Network.

As of yet no director is attached to the project.

Warhol was an icon of the 1960s, having risen through New York’s underground art scene. Blending popular culture with high art, pop art became his signature.

He is most famous for his paintings of Cambell Soup Cans, Marilyn Monroe and the banana that became the cover of The Velvet Underground and Nico’s classic self-titled album.

Andy Warhol was famously also an openly gay man during a period of history when homosexuality wasn’t as readily accepted as it is today.

This is the latest film Leto has signed up for since his ill-fated turn as the Joker in 'Suicide Squad’ earlier this year. He’s also set to appear in the untitled 'Blade Runner’ sequel opposite Harrison Ford and Ryan Gosling.

Picture Credits: WENN