Robert De Niro May Play Bernie Madoff for HBO

Osama bin Laden isn't the only reviled public enemy getting the movie treatment; HBO has purchased the rights to The Wizard Of Lies: Bernie Madoff And The Death Of Trust, the new book about the smug Ponzi schemer and his duplicitous ways. And just who does the network want to have star as Madoff in this surefire future Emmy favorite? Try Robert De Niro.

Deadline reports that the network is negotiating with the De Niro to lead the currently untitled film (though Wizard of Lies sure is catchy), which would mark the Oscar-winning actor's first-ever starring role in a made-for-television film. Madoff -- who bears a resemblance to De Niro -- bilked his clients out of $65 billion over the course of nearly twenty years. He's currently serving a 150-year jail sentence in North Carolina.

Per THR, De Niro and his Tribeca Productions partner Jane Rosenthal will produce. This is the second big HBO film planned around New York finances; Too Big to Fail -- the network's adaptation of the Andrew Ross Sorkin book from director Curtis Hanson -- debuts next week.

· Robert De Niro Dealing To Play Bernie Madoff For HBO Movie Of 'The Wizard Of Lies' [Deadline]

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