Leonardo DiCaprio is no longer attached to lead "The Deep Blue Good-by", a movie based on John D. MacDonald's mystery novel. While a new search for the lead actor begins, James Mangold ("The Wolverine") is in negotiations to take the helming duty, AceShowbiz said.

The story revolves round Travis McGee, a beach bum who lives on a houseboat and takes mysterious cases. Unlike most detectives in crime fiction, he only works when running out of money and receives half the value of the item he helps recover as his fee.

Dennis Lehane, whose novel "Mystic River" was turned into an Oscar-nominated film in 2003 by Clint Eastwood, wrote the most recent draft of the screenplay. DiCaprio is still involved in the project as one of the producers. The movie is expected to kick-start a new franchise.

Fresh off his two Oscar-nominated films "The Great Gatsby" and "The Wolf of Wall Street" last year, DiCaprio boards "Wilson (2015)" which depicts the life of President Woodrow Wilson. He is also rumored eying to make a Theodore Roosevelt biopic.

Mangold, meanwhile, is developing a Wolverine sequel. He is also working on an adaptation of novel "Three Little Words" with Reese Witherspoon linked as the female lead.