Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. are scrabbling over a suitable co-production arrangement for director Martin Scorsese's next potential project "The Wolf of Wall Street" reports The Los Angeles Times.

Leonardo DiCaprio is set to star in the adaptation of the just-published cash-coke-and-corruption memoir being adapted by Emmy-winning "Sopranos" writer-producer Terence Winter.

The autobiography follows New York stockbroker Jordan Belfort, a flashy, drug-abusing, hooker-hiring, model-marrying master of the universe sent to jail for securities fraud and money laundering in the '90s.

The catch is the project is setup at Warners, not Paramount where Scorsese has his directing deal. If Scorsese were to make a film at Warners, Paramount has the option to own half of it and co-distribute.

DiCaprio and Scorsese are looking to make this their next project and hope to finish before next year's strike. But the film's future remains up in the air, whilst Scorsese has four other features in development at Paramount.