“Orphan” Writer Peeks Under DiCaprio’s Little Red Riding Hood

Just a little over a week ago we were talking to David Leslie Johnson about his amazing job on The Orphan. Since then the film has already achieved cult status and has earned over $28 million in just the first 11 days on the big screen. Well, according to Variety, Johnson’s star just keeps going up and now he’s working with Leonardo DiCaprio’s company, Appian Way on a Gothic reimagining of “Little Red Riding Hood.”

The “Red Riding Hood” project’s been developed internally at Appian Way but isn’t being positioned as a possible acting vehicle for DiCaprio.

The best-known version of the story — in which a wolf disguises himself to fool a girl delivering food to her sick grandmother in the forest — was published in the 19th century by the Brothers Grimm. Earlier oral versions of the tale, which date back to the Middle Ages, are far darker and sometimes involve a werewolf rather than a wolf; the first published version, by Charles Perrault, concludes with Red Riding Hood eaten by the wolf, with no happy ending.

With that kind of source material Johnson could really create the kind of movie that could become an instant classic.