The Wolf of Wall Street stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill are to reunite on a film about the heroic security guard Richard Jewell, who foiled an Olympic bomb plot but later came under suspicion himself.

The reported project would reverse the dynamic from Martin Scorsese's Oscar-nominated tale of 80s and 90s excess, with Hill playing Jewell and DiCaprio in support as the lead character's lawyer. It is based on the Vanity Fair article The Ballad of Richard Jewell, which tells the story of the security guard's rise to fame and subsequent vilification at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

Jewell was hailed as a hero when he sounded the alarm after discovering a backpack containing pipe bombs at the Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta. His actions helped clear the area, though the bomb did go off. One person was killed and dozens more were injured in the blast.

Following reports of the bombing, Jewell came to be considered a suspect by police and underwent an invasive trial by media that left his life in tatters. He was eventually completely exonerated, with anti-abortion, anti-gay terrorist Eric Robert Rudolph later found to have built the bomb.

The former police officer went on to sue the NBC and CNN networks for their role in his vilification, while the FBI and other US government agencies were forced to make apologies. Jewell died in 2007 from complications related to his weight issues.

The project has been set up at 20th Century Fox, which bought the rights to Marie Brenner's 1997 Vanity Fair article. DiCaprio is on board as a producer.

Both DiCaprio and Hill picked up Oscar nominations last month for their roles in The Wolf of Wall Street, the former getting a nomination in the best actor category for his turn as the crooked stockbroker Jordan Belfort and the latter named in the best supporting actor section for his portrayal of Donnie Azoff. Scorsese's black comedy is also named in three further categories, including best film and best director.