Looking for some encouragement? How about this: Even Tim Burton, the director of Beetlejuice and The Nightmare Before Christmas, received rejection letters in his early career. A few years before Disney hired Burton as a concept artist on The Fox and the Hound and The Black Cauldron, they politely (but firmly) rejected a children’s book idea that he submitted for review. Click here to see a spread from Burton’s book idea, his letter to Disney, and the response he received.
Some of us still can’t get past the image of Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson in Titanic, though he’s had such a diverse career full of characters, but it seems we’re going to have to move on and catch up with the times.
Not only has he acted a variety of characters, adapting to them flawlessly, he is also producing films now. (Don’t ask us exactly when that started.)
DiCaprio has set his sights high, as he is rumored to be working on two films right now, Akira and Ninja Scroll.
If you haven’t heard of either of these titles, you’re really missing out!
Akira is a classic. It’s a black-and-white manga series by Katsuhiro Otomo, published in Young Magazine from 1982-1990. Its six volumes are a collection of post-apocalyptic terror, excitement and adventure.
Ninja Scroll, as it’s most known, is an animated movie from 1993.
(Read/watch both. Please.)
Both DiCaprio productions are to be live-action (real people) films and undoubtedly action-packed.
Now this is what we’re really excited about: Morgan Freeman is rumored to be Akira’s Colonel Shikishima. We sure hope so!
(We’ve also heard that Zac Efron may have a role in Akira, but we’ve also heard that he doesn’t. It’s hard to keep the facts straight.)
Based on Bryan Lee O’Malley’s graphic novels about slacker/gamer/guitarist/Canadian Scott Pilgrim, the storyline remains roughly the same. The less-than-buff Pilgrim, played by the always awkward (and Canadian) Michael Cera, has to fight the 7 evil exes of Ramona Flowers, the pixie-ish new girl in town with technicolor hair, to win her heart. Some people are worried that the film adaptation won’t do justice to the source material (when do movies ever, really?), but so far Scott Pilgrim vs. The World has a 79% on Rotten Tomatoes and some pretty decent reviews. Even mainstream media outlets like the Washington Post liked it, calling the film “a romantic comedy that’s based on a comic, but has the sensibility of a video game, the bass lines of an ambitious indie-rock band and the heart of a classic John Hughes teen movie.”
We think the trailer looks pretty darn good and director Edgar Wright, who also directed the hilarious and innovative zombie flick Shaun of the Dead, hasn’t disappointed us yet. Check out the international trailer and a clip from the film below. Do you think Wright will be able to capture O’Malley’s style?
And, if you’re bored, check out the Scott Pilgrim movie site to create your own avatar. And Bryan Lee O’Malley has some cool behind the scenes photos and other Scott Pilgrim stuff on his site radiomaru.com.
Character and casting information for the upcoming Green Lantern and X-Men: First Class movies is starting to leak. Much to the dismay of some fans, it looks like we can expect multiple baddies in Green Lantern. Although the details are unclear, Dr. Hector Hammond and Sinestro will both make an appearance. And actor Tim Pocock may or may not reprise the role of Cyclops in X-Men. Check out the full story on Green Lantern here and X-Men here.
