Money makes the world go round. Image: The Wolf of Wall Street.
The Wolf of Wall Street could not be financed for six years, even with DiCaprio and Scorsese. It was an R rated film about complicated scams with a very unattractive central character and the studios were spooked.
But Hollywood is a magnet for new money, and DiCaprio was befriended by an intriguing source of cash. It would lead him to a staggeringly ironic scandal involving potentates and despots half a world away, for which he is no way responsible, though he would drink their wine and take their presents and bask in their flattery.