September 21, 2016 - 12:35 AMT
Jared Leto to topline cultural icon Andy Warhol bio

Jared Leto has signed on to star as pop artist and cultural icon Andy Warhol in biopic. The 44-year-old frontman of 30 Seconds to Mars will team up with Michael De Luca and Terence Winter in making the upcoming film titled "Warhol", AceShowbiz said citing The Hollywood Reporter.

The Joker of "Suicide Squad" will produce the film through his Paradox production shingle with De Luca, whose credits include Oscar-nominated movies "The Social Network", "Moneyball" and "Captain Phillips". No helmer has been attached yet, but "The Wolf of Wall Street" scribe Winter is on board to pen the screenplay based on Victor Bockris' 1989 book "Warhol: The Biography".

It is not the first time Warhol's life has been adapted into the big screen. Countless actors including Crispin Glover, David Bowie, Guy Pearce and Bill Hader have played the artist in 1991's "The Doors", 1996's "Basquiat", 2006's "Factory Girl" and 2012's "Men in Black 3" respectively.

Warhol began exhibiting his work during the 1950s. The artist was best known for his painting of significant American objects which included dollar bills, mushroom clouds, electric chairs, Campbell's Soup Cans and Coca-Cola bottles along with celebrities like Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley. Warhol, who was openly gay, was 58 when he died in 1987.

Leto is currently filming his part in Denis Villeneuve's sci-fi thriller untitled Blade Runner project, which is set for an October 6, 2017 release in U.S. theaters. His co-stars include Harrison Ford, Ryan Gosling, Ana de Armas, Barkhad Abdi, Sylvia Hoeks, Dave Bautista, Carla Juri and Mackenzie Davis.

Photo: ABC/ Rick Rowell