 Appian Way Productions was founded by Leonardo DiCaprio . Its first film was The Assassination of Richard Nixon ( 2004 ) , starring Sean Penn as Samuel Byck who attempted to assassinate president Richard Nixon in 1974 . It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival . The company 's next film was the 2004 biopic The Aviator , produced in association with Forward Pass , Intermedia , and Initial Entertainment Group . Based on the 1993 non @-@ fiction book Howard Hughes : The Secret Life by Charles Higham , the film depicted the life of Howard Hughes ( DiCaprio ) , an aviation pioneer who became a successful film producer between the late 1920s and late 1940s while simultaneously growing more unstable due to severe obsessive – compulsive disorder . Writing for The Daily Telegraph , Sukhdev Sandhu described the film as " a gorgeous tribute to the Golden Age of Hollywood " even though it " tips the balance of spectacle versus substance in favour of the former . " He praised Martin Scorsese 's direction , DiCaprio and the supporting cast but panned Kate Beckinsale 's performance . With a worldwide gross of $ 213 @.@ 7 million against a budget of $ 110 million , the film proved to be a commercial success . The film earned a total of eleven nominations at the 77th Academy Awards , including Best Picture , Best Director ( Scorsese ) and Best Actor ( DiCaprio ) , and won five of them , including a Best Supporting Actress award for Cate Blanchett . 
