DiCaprio 'developing Gothic Riding Hood'

Leonardo DiCaprio's production company has started work on a Gothic version of Little Red Riding Hood, according to reports.

Screenwriter David Leslie Johnson will write the treatment for the project, while the reimagining of the classic fairy tale will not serve as an acting vehicle for the Revolutionary Road star, says Variety.

The Brothers Grimm tale was first published in the 19th century and centred on a wolf who disguises himself as a young girl's grandmother in order to trick her into handing over a basket of food she has brought the ageing woman.

DiCaprio's Warner Brothers-based Appian Way banner partnered with Johnson for his horror movie Orphan, and has produced the upcoming Martin Scorsese-directed thriller Shutter Island, which also stars the 34-year-old.