Leonardo DiCaprio is in talks to star in Guillermo del Toro's new film 'Nightmare Alley'.

Leonardo DiCaprio

Leonardo DiCaprio

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the 44-year-old actor is being eyed for the lead role in remake of the 1947 flick, which starred Tyrone Power as "a corrupt con-man who teams up with a female psychiatrist to trick people into giving them money".

The movie - del Toro's follow-up to the Oscar-winning 'The Shape of Water' - is based on the novel of the same name by William Lindsay Gresham.

The 54-year-old filmmaker has penned the script alongside Kim Morgan and the project is being produced and funded by del Toro and J. Miles Dale of TSG Entertainment, whilst Fox Searchlight's own distribution rights.

The movie, which begins filming in autumn, comes after DiCaprio filmed Quentin Tarantino's Manson family murder pic 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood', which also stars Margot Robbie and Brad Pitt, and is due out in July.

The 'Catch Me If You Can' star hasn't been seen on the big screen since 2015's 'The Revenant'.

Meanwhile, it was recently confirmed that DiCaprio's live-action version of 'Akira' is to be filmed in California.

The film, based on the Manga series written and illustrated by Katsuhiro Otama, will soon begin shooting in the US state after scoring $18.5 million in tax credits under the California Film Commission's Film & TV Tax Credit Program 2.0.

The shoot is scheduled to take place over 71 days and, according to Deadline, will employ more than 200 "below-the-line" crew and more than 5,000 employees.

'Thor: Ragnarok' director Taika Waititi remains attached to helm the film, which takes place in Tokyo in the year 2060 and follows Tetsuo and his best friend Kaneda after Tetsuo's government experiment-boosted psychic powers threaten both of their lives.

The movie is one of 18 other films that will receive the tax benefits under the condition filming takes place in California and the picture will be produced by DiCaprio's Appian Way Productions that he founded in 2004 alongside Andrew Lazar.