Dev Patel is reportedly in talks to join Ben Stiller in the cast of the forthcoming biographical thriller 'Chippendales'. But this project, based on the famous group of male strippers, is far from the 'Magic Mike' story you might have hoped for - this is a tale of greed, betrayal and murder.

Dev Patel at the Academy AwardsDev Patel at the Academy Awards

The 27-year-old is allegedly set to play Chippendales founder Steve Banerjee in the new movie, with Ben Stiller as choreographer and tour manager Nick DeNoia. Isaac Adamson is apparently on board to write the script, with the likes of David Permut and Michel Litvak on the production team.

'It is the Horatio Alger story gone horribly wrong', co-producer Gary Michael Walters told Deadline. 'It is a true life Boogie Nights, a wild ride through the seamy underbelly where entertainment and criminality meet, during a period where the pendulum swung toward female sexuality.'

The story behind the Chippendales isn't an easy one to stomach. Founded in 1979 by Indian nightclub owner Somen 'Steve' Banerjee with partners Paul Snider and Bruce Nahin, the Chippendales soon became a hugely popular concept with the female following growing across the world. Nicholas De Noia took responsibility for the choreography and took these male strippers on the road, but it wasn't long before conflict arose between him and Steve.

The seriousness of their rivalry was reflected in the omen of Snider's fate in 1980; he shot himself after raping and murdering his Playboy model wife Dorothy Stratten, but that wasn't the only bloodstain on the Chippendales' history.

After Steve replaced De Noia with Steve Merritt, he hated that De Noia still owned the touring companies and hired a hit man to murder him in 1987. He was also alleged to have proposed the murder of Nahin, but the killing never took place. Steve, meanwhile, hanged himself in his jail cell in 1994 after being sentenced for his crimes.

More: Dev Patel dating his 'Hotel Mumbai' co-star

Dev Patel's next project is the true-story drama 'Hotel Mumbai' which comes out later this year and is based on the 2008 Mumbai attacks.