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Post by Travis on Feb 29, 2008 12:26:00 GMT -1
.....to to be produced be Leonardo DiCaprio! The star of “The Departed” and “Titanic” is stepping into sci-fi. Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way production company will help make two films based on one of the most popular Japanese manga comics of all-time, Katsuhiro Otomo’s “Akira”. DiCaprio will produce the movie with his partner Jennifer Davisson as well as Andrew Lazar. Irish commercial and music video director Ruairi Robinson will direct from a screenplay by Gary Whitta. Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures want to take Otomo’s six-volume, 2,000-page story and adapt it into two separate screenplays. They’ve announced an ambitious plan to have the first “Akira” movie out in theaters by the summer of 2009. There is also a rumor presented on the Ain’t It Cool website that DiCaprio wants to star in the film. Officially he is just a producer of the project – for now. Probably old news for Neko, but fotgot to put it up last week. Not sure I like the sound of the director!  |
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Post by Neko Bazu on Feb 29, 2008 12:50:43 GMT -1
No, this is definitely news to me!  In all truth, I quiver at the thought  I wonder if they realise how gritty the manga actually is? If they're basing their assumptions on the anime, they're in for a big surprise, because that had a fair bit of the most graphic stuff left out. I think this could go either really well or really badly. Titanic aside, I've actually got a grudging amount of respect for pretty-boy as an actor - whether he can transfer that into directing is another matter. Akira would be a challenge even for a top producer to make into a live-action film, though (especially the finale), so for a debut role, it's a bloody brave effort I really hope he doesn't star in it though - not because of his acting ability, but because he'll just look too out of place in it! It's set in a post-apocalyptic hell-hole; he just doesn't have the rough edge that a role in it would need... |
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Post by Travis on Feb 29, 2008 12:58:30 GMT -1
No, this is definitely news to me! In all truth, I quiver at the thought I wonder if they realise how gritty the manga actually is? If they're basing their assumptions on the anime, they're in for a big surprise, because that had a fair bit of the most graphic stuff left out. I think this could go either really well or really badly. Titanic aside, I've actually got a grudging amount of respect for pretty-boy as an actor - whether he can transfer that into directing is another matter. Akira would be a challenge even for a top producer to make into a live-action film, though (especially the finale), so for a debut role, it's a bloody brave effort I really hope he doesn't star in it though - not because of his acting ability, but because he'll just look too out of place in it! It's set in a post-apocalyptic hell-hole; he just doesn't have the rough edge that a role in it would need... It's been a worrying few days Neko. McG to direct Terminator FFS.....this is the man who's career nadir so far was the first 'Charlie's Angels' film!! Couldn't they have gone for someone who knows the anime/manga culture to direct? I just hope they get some very good advisors on board. I think I heard somewhere that 'Kiki's Delivery Service' is also being remade.......well, I suppose looking at it positively, that's possibly the film least likely to suffer from Western influence, amongst the Ghibli productions, being that the location is fairly inconsequential, culturally, in that piece. |
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Post by Neko Bazu on Feb 29, 2008 13:04:26 GMT -1
On the one hand, I suppose it's encouraging that people are at least paying attention to Japanese cinema now - it may increase the popularity of Japanese cinema over here, which IMO can only be a good thing. When you compare the quality of so many of their works to so many of ours, they have an awful lot of stand-out titles. With more commercial interest, maybe we'll start seeing more quality on the silver screen again. On the other, though, seeing what they've already done to films like Ringu and Ju-On, I'm not so sure about this additional interest |
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Post by Travis on Feb 29, 2008 13:14:24 GMT -1
On the one hand, I suppose it's encouraging that people are at least paying attention to Japanese cinema now - it may increase the popularity of Japanese cinema over here, which IMO can only be a good thing. When you compare the quality of so many of their works to so many of ours, they have an awful lot of stand-out titles. With more commercial interest, maybe we'll start seeing more quality on the silver screen again. On the other, though, seeing what they've already done to films like Ringu and Ju-On, I'm not so sure about this additional interest Maybe so, though the bloke who directed 'In The Mood For Love' had just made his first Holloywood film. Apparently he's tried to cater to the US audience and consequently the movie's pretty pants! 'Battle Royale' is gonna be the acid test!  |
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Post by Neko Bazu on Feb 29, 2008 13:26:17 GMT -1
'Battle Royale' is gonna be the acid test! And I fear it's going to burn horribly... |
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Post by Travis on Feb 29, 2008 13:41:02 GMT -1
'Battle Royale' is gonna be the acid test! And I fear it's going to burn horribly... Anything better than a disaster could be considered a measured triumph in this respect. |
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In all truth, I quiver at the thought 
