Before he was born, Leonardo diCaprio famously kicked his mother’s stomach while she was at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy, looking at a painting by Leonardo da Vinci and that was how she decided on a name. Thus it was foretold that one day he shall rise up among the celestial deities of Hollywood and nab the role of his illustrious namesake, and thus fulfill the circle of Leonine greatness that is his birthright.

Today that prophecy came true. Deadline is reporting that Paramount beat out Universal in a seven-figure bidding war for the rights to Walter Isaacson’s book on Leonardo da Vinci. And in a bit of inspired hokey, on-the-nose casting, the biopic will Leonardo DiCaprio.

“Leonardo da Vinci” will be released Oct. 17, 2018. DiCaprio will also produce the film under his Appian Way banner

Via Deadline:

According to info from the publisher, Isaacson used Da Vinci’s notebooks to weave a narrative that connects his art to his science and voracious curiosity and imagination. Aside from his priceless paintings, he pursued innovative studies of anatomy (his iconic drawing of Vitruvian Man), fossils, birds, the heart, flying machines, botany, geology and weaponry. He peeled flesh off the faces of cadavers, drew the muscles that move the lips and then painted history’s most memorable smile. He explored the math of optics, showed how light rays strike the cornea and produced illusions of changing perspectives in The Last Supper. Isaacson also describes how Leonardo’s lifelong enthusiasm for staging theatrical productions informed his paintings and inventions. According to the book, he also was a bit of a misfit: illegitimate, gay, vegetarian, left-handed, easily distracted and at times heretical.

Sounds like a perfect fit!