Leonardo DiCaprio is being tipped to star in a Hollywood version of the acclaimed mini-series I, Claudius.

Scott Rudin, who produced The Queen and Notes On A Scandal, reportedly paid almost £1 million for the rights to the work, set during the Roman Empire.

US reports suggest that DiCaprio and US screenwriter William Monahan could be set to work on the project, although no offers have been made.

The 1976 series, starring Derek Jacobi as Claudius and John Hurt as Caligula, was first adapted into a movie by director Josef von Sternberg in 1937, with Charles Laughton in the title role.

The film and BBC adaptation were taken from Robert Graves's epic novels about the decline of Roman civilisation in the first century AD.

Several Hollywood studios are said to have fought for the rights for the book, told through the eyes of Claudius.

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