Leonardo Dicaprio’s production company Appian Way and Paramount Pictures have purchased the rights to an upcoming movie on the VW emissions scandal which has been extremely damaging to the German auto manufacturer’s reputation and led to the resignation of the CEO Martin Winterkorn.
VW admitted to “cheating” on emissions tests by installing software that would modify results for NOx. The company may face a loss of billions in fines and lawsuits. The VW emissions scandal is without doubt the biggest debacle to hit the automotive industry in decades and caught the attention of academy award winner and environmental rights champion, Leonardo Dicaprio.
The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation donates millions for environmental causes and the actor has also been involved in a number of film projects that relate to environmental issues including “The 11th Hour”, a documentary about the state of the planet.
In September this year, Leonardo joined the global movement towards clean, renewable energy. His statement on the occasion was, “Climate change is severely impacting the health of our planet and all of its inhabitants, and we must transition to a clean energy economy that does not rely on fossil fuels, the main driver of this global problem”.