Appian Way Productions was founded by Leonardo DiCaprio and takes its name from the Italian road of the same name . Its first film was '' The Assassination of Richard Nixon '' ( 2004 ) , starring Sean Penn as Samuel Byck , who attempted to assassinate US 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 . The film proved to be a commercial success , with a worldwide gross of $ 213.7 million against a budget of $ 110 million . It 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
77th Academy Awards
77th Academy Awards
Appian Way Productions