The film studio Paramount Pictures and the production company Appian Way of actor Leonardo DiCaprio (No. 89 in the ranking of the 100 most influential celebrities, income - $29 million) will make a film about the scandal with exhaust gas tests at the Volkswagen automaker, reports Bloomberg .

In September 2015, it became known that Volkswagen AG, using special software, underestimated the content of harmful substances in the exhaust gases of cars with diesel engines, thus the software helped the automaker avoid testing for the level of emissions of harmful substances. The US Environmental Protection Agency suspected that when driving on the road, the real emissions of toxic emissions from diesel cars from Volkswagen and Audi were 40 times higher than the limits established by American legislation.

At the time, it was reported that the manipulation of emissions data affected 500,000 Volkswagen models (Jetta, Beetle, Golf and Passat) and Audi A3 sold in the United States from 2009 to 2015. All of these cars are powered by a 2.0-litre four-cylinder diesel engine with turbocharger and direct injection (TDI). For such manipulations, the German concern in the United States could face a fine of up to $18 billion.

On September 22, the company announced that software that incorrectly determines the level of emissions of harmful substances could be installed on 11 million cars.

On September 23, Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn announced his resignation. Winterkorn's place at the head of Volkswagen was taken by former Porsche top manager Matthias Müller.

DiCaprio decided to make a film about the Volkswagen scandal