It may be scandalising the car industry, but the Volkswagen saga is also causing excitement in movieland.

There are reports that Paramount Studios and Leonardo DiCaprio, together with Jennifer Davisson, his partner in production company Appian Way, have acquired the movie rights to a book that will be written about the diesel emissions outrage.

DiCaprio is already big on environmental issues – he apparently owns a Toyota Prius – and so his name may have emerged almost by default (no jokes please about Vin Diesel as a co-star).

The last time a VW featured big time in any blockbuster was when Herbie – theVW beetle – appeared in The Love Bug.

Thanks to this latest incident Volkswagen’s reputation among US motorists has taken a huge dent, and some may see a glamorised movie as putting it back on the road to recovery.

However, the book will be a challenge for the writer. Volkswagen hasn’t released its findings on how exactly the whole saga developed and unfolded. Nor has it identified the culprits. With potential lawsuits flying around this looks like a tricky project that may sit on the backburner for a little while.