Leonardo DiCaprio in the context of "One Battle After Another"

The Revenant is a 2015 American epic western action drama film directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu. The screenplay by Mark L. Smith and Iñárritu is based in part on Michael Punke's 2002 novel The Revenant, which describes frontiersman Hugh Glass's experiences in 1823. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Glass, alongside Tom Hardy, Domhnall Gleeson and Will Poulter.

In August 2001, Akiva Goldsman purchased Punke's manuscript. Iñárritu signed on to direct The Revenant in August 2011; in April 2014, after several delays due to other projects, Iñárritu confirmed that he was beginning work on it and that DiCaprio had the lead role. Principal photography began in October 2014. Location and crew concerns delayed production from May to August 2015.

Don't Look Up is a 2021 American political satire black comedy film written, co-produced, and directed by Adam McKay from a story he co-wrote with David Sirota. It stars an ensemble cast featuring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Rob Morgan, Jonah Hill, Mark Rylance, Tyler Perry, Timothée Chalamet, Ron Perlman, Ariana Grande, Kid Cudi, Cate Blanchett, and Meryl Streep. In the film, it tells the story of two astronomers attempting to warn humanity about an approaching comet that will destroy human civilization.

The movie's central comet impact event was used by McKay as an allegory for threats arising from climate change, and the film satirizes government, political, celebrity, and media indifference, in particular to the climate crisis, but with further synergy with regard to responses to science during the COVID-19 pandemic; Donna Lu of The Guardian notes that "[d]espite a stellar cast", the movie "received a frosty reception from many film critics", while being thoroughly lauded by climate activists.

Gangs of New York is a 2002 epic historical drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian, and Kenneth Lonergan, based on Herbert Asbury's 1928 book The Gangs of New York. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis, and Cameron Diaz, along with Jim Broadbent, John C. Reilly, Henry Thomas and Brendan Gleeson in supporting roles. The film also marks the start of a collaboration between DiCaprio and Scorsese.

The film is set from 1862 to 1863, when a long-running Catholic–Protestant feud erupts into violence, just as an Irish immigrant group is protesting the threat of conscription during the Civil War. Scorsese spent 20 years developing the project until Miramax Films acquired it in 1999. Principal photography took place in Cinecittà Studios in Rome, and Long Island City, New York City.

The Aviator is a 2004 epic biographical drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by John Logan. It stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Howard Hughes, Cate Blanchett as Katharine Hepburn, and Kate Beckinsale as Ava Gardner. The supporting cast features Ian Holm, John C. Reilly, Alec Baldwin, Jude Law, Gwen Stefani, Kelli Garner, Matt Ross, Willem Dafoe, Alan Alda, and Edward Herrmann.

Based on the 1993 non-fiction book Howard Hughes: The Secret Life by Charles Higham, the film depicts the life of Howard Hughes, an aviation pioneer and director of the film Hell's Angels. The film portrays his life from 1927 to 1947 during which time Hughes became a successful film producer and an aviation magnate while simultaneously growing more unstable due to severe obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD).

Revolutionary Road is a 2008 romantic drama film directed by Sam Mendes and written by Justin Haythe, based on the 1961 novel of the same name by Richard Yates. It stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet as Frank and April Wheeler, with Michael Shannon, Kathryn Hahn, David Harbour, and Kathy Bates in supporting roles. Set from the late 1940s to the mid-1950s, the film portrays the Wheelers' struggle to cope with their personal problems and the ensuing breakdown in their marriage. Revolutionary Road is the second onscreen collaboration for DiCaprio, Winslet, and Bates, all of whom previously co-starred in 1997's Titanic. The film soundtrack was composed by Thomas Newman, his fourth collaboration with Mendes.

Development of the film adaptation began in 1961. However, a lack of commercial prospects and disagreements with the screenplay caused the project to be in limbo until the 2000s. BBC Films eventually purchased the film rights to the novel and Haythe rewrote the screenplay. Winslet read the script and persuaded her then-husband Mendes to direct, and DiCaprio to play the role of Frank.

Frank William Abagnale Jr. (/ˈæbəɡneɪl/; born April 27, 1948) is an American-French security consultant, author, and convicted felon who committed frauds that mainly targeted individuals and small businesses. He later gained notoriety in the late 1970s by claiming a diverse range of workplace frauds, many of which have since been placed in doubt. In 1980, Abagnale co-wrote his autobiography, Catch Me If You Can, which built a narrative around these claimed frauds. The book inspired the film of the same name directed by Steven Spielberg in 2002, in which Abagnale was portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio. He has also written four other books. Abagnale runs Abagnale and Associates, a consulting firm.

Abagnale claims to have worked as an assistant attorney general in the U.S. state of Louisiana, served as a hospital physician in Georgia, and impersonated a Pan American World Airways pilot who logged over two million air miles by deadheading. The veracity of most of Abagnale's claims has been questioned, and ongoing inquiries continue to confirm that they were fabricated. In 2002, Abagnale admitted on his website that some facts had been overdramatized or exaggerated, though he was not specific about what was exaggerated or omitted about his life. In 2020, journalist Alan C. Logan claimed to have found evidence that proves the majority of Abagnale's story was invented or at best exaggerated.

Catch Me If You Can is a 2002 American crime comedy-drama film directed and produced by Steven Spielberg and starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks with Christopher Walken, Martin Sheen, Nathalie Baye, Amy Adams, and James Brolin in supporting roles. The screenplay by Jeff Nathanson is based on the eponymous and semi-autobiographical book by Frank Abagnale Jr., who claims that prior to his 19th birthday, he successfully performed cons worth millions of dollars by posing as a Pan American World Airways pilot, a Georgia doctor, and a Louisiana parish prosecutor. However, the truth of his story is, as of the 2020s, heavily disputed.

A movie version of Abagnale's book was contemplated soon after it was published in 1980 but began in earnest in 1997 when Spielberg's DreamWorks bought the film rights. David Fincher, Gore Verbinski, Lasse Hallström, Miloš Forman, and Cameron Crowe were all considered to direct the film before Spielberg decided to direct it himself. Filming took place from February to May 2002.

Martin Scorsese (born 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and film historian whose career spans more than fifty years. To date, Scorsese has directed twenty-six feature length narrative films, seventeen feature-length documentary films, and has co-directed one anthology film. His films Mean Streets (1973), Taxi Driver (1976), Raging Bull (1980), and Goodfellas (1990) are often cited among the greatest films ever made and established himself as one of the most respected directors of all time. He became known for his collaborations with actors Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Scorsese started his career with the independent drama Who's That Knocking at My Door (1967) and the romance drama Boxcar Bertha (1972) before earning acclaim for his crime drama Mean Streets (1973) which was his first collaboration with Robert De Niro. He continued to earn acclaim directing films of various genres such as the romantic comedy-drama Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974), the psychological drama Taxi Driver (1976), the musical New York, New York (1977), the biographical sports drama Raging Bull (1980), the satirical black comedy The King of Comedy (1982), the black comedy After Hours (1985), the sports drama The Color of Money (1986), and the religious epic The Last Temptation of Christ (1989). After establishing himself as one of the most prominent directors, he gained acclaim throughout the 1990s by directing a string of crime films such as Goodfellas (1990), Cape Fear (1991), and Casino (1995). During this time he also directed period romance The Age of Innocence (1993), and the dramas Kundun (1997) and Bringing Out the Dead (1999).

In the film industry, a bankable star is a film actor (movie star) "capable of guaranteeing box-office success simply by showing up in a movie". The bankability of an actor includes their films' box office track record, professional demeanor, and other factors. Hiring a bankable star helps a film company to secure investment, distribution, and garner media attention. Some bankable stars have so much star power that even films without a strong concept or "hook"―such as star vehicle films―are feasible to make.

A bankable director is a similar notion.

Michael W. Punke (born December 7, 1964) is an American author, attorney, academic, and policy analyst. He is a former Deputy United States Trade Representative and U.S. Ambassador to the World Trade Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. In 2017, he became vice president for public policy at Amazon Web Services.

As an author, Punke is best known for writing The Revenant: A Novel of Revenge (2002), which was adapted into film as The Revenant (2015), directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, with a screenplay by Iñárritu and Mark L. Smith, and starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy.