Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks to Team for HBO Gorbachev Film

Deadline reports that Hollywood heavyweights Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks will join forces to produce a film about Mikhail Gorbachev for the HBO Network. The former Soviet Union President will serve as a consultant on the project.

The project will follow the dissolution of the USSR from the President's perspective. Gorbachev, the last man to lead the Soviet Union, held office from 1988 to 1991. He is credited with ending the Cold War by introducing such policies as glasnost and perestroika.

John Shiban penned the script for the film to be executive produced by DiCaprio, Jennifer Killoran, Hanks, Goetzman and Industry Entertainment's Keith Addis. Long-time Gorbachev aid Pavel Palazhchenko, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David E. Hoffman and Serbian director Dejan Karaklaji will also serve as consultants.

DiCaprio first met Gorbochev when he agreed to appear in the actor's environmental film The 11th Hour. Several years later, Gorbachev presented him with the Cinema for Peace's Environmental Award in Berlin.

The project will mark a reunion for DiCaprio and Hanks. The actors appeared together in the Steven Spielberg film Catch Me If You Can.