Volkswagen’s Clean Diesel Scandal Set For Movie By Paramount, Appian Way

Paramount Pictures and Appian Way’s Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson have acquired a four-page proposal for a book by Jack Ewing that will detail the Volkswagen’s Clean Diesel scandal that led to the resignation of Volkswagen Group CEO Martin Winterkorn and shook up the global automobile market. The book will reveal how the “more, better, faster” dictum that prevails in 21st century boardrooms can lead down a dark path. The story follows the events of the scandal in which the company placed illegal software in their Clean Diesel cars that could tell when a car was being tested for fuel emissions and would turn on the emissions controls to cheat the test and meet EPA standards.

Volkswagen is facing up to $18 billion in U.S. EPA fines. The scandal has rocked the automotive company, sending Volkswagen’s stock plunging and putting the future of the German automotive industry into question. They’ll try to find a movie in there. Given DiCaprio’s advocacy of environmental causes, it’s evident why he was a go-to guy on this one.

The book proposal sold for mid-six figures to publisher Norton. Liz Raposo brought the book into the studio and Gotham Group’s Shari Smiley represented Ewing on the sale of the feature rights, on behalf of Marly Rusoff at the Marly Rusoff Literary Agency.