appian way Tagged Articles at Cinematical

It's been nearly two months since Leonardo DiCaprio optioned a new project, and he must have thought we would start calling him lazy. In August, Monika reported that he had 25 projects in various stages of pre-production, and now you can add a 26th, as Variety says he's attached to star in The Deep Blue Goodbye, an adaptation of John D. MacDonald's 1964 thriller.

Goodbye is the first of MacDonald's Travis McGee series, which spanned the course of 21 novels. McGee is like a beach bum version of James Bond, a bachelor who happily resides on a houseboat named the Busted Flush. (To add to his cool, he won it in a poker game.) He works as a freelance "salvage consultant," which means he tries to retrieve money or property that a client has been wrongfully deprived of. His life is one of money, adventure, dames, and weird villains all set against sunny Florida, some of whom he'll "bend way, way, over, but not break." Sexy stuff!

To be fair, DiCaprio has reportedly been attached to produce and play McGee for some time, but the movie reporting world learned about it thanks to Fox's new executive Peter Chernin, who is coming aboard Goodbye as producer alongside DiCaprio and his Appian Way partner Jennifer Davisson Killoran. Dana Stevens is penning the script, and the film does not yet have a start date. With DiCaprio's ever growing slate, this post could be long forgotten by the time Goodbye sails in front of the camera.

It's been two months since we heard anything about the Leonardo DiCaprio-produced Akira. This is a remake that has caused a bit of upset in our comments, as initial reports suggested DiCaprio was set to star alongside Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

However, Gordon-Levitt denied having any connection to the film, and now DiCaprio has clarified his involvement. In an interview with MTV's Splash Page, he denied that he was going to be starring in Akira, nor will he be playing any part in Ninja Scroll (which he just optioned a few weeks ago). He made it clear that his only involvement is as producer, via his Appian Way banner.

So, where does Akira stand in pre-production? Remember, this was once being fast-tracked for a summer 2009 release, which it's obviously not going to make. But that's because DiCaprio is making sure this is handled right: "We're waiting for the final draft of the script. I'm a big fan of Japanese anime ... I know there a lot of loyal fans out there of the project and die-hard fans, so we're going to try to do the best job we possibly can and we're not going to make the movie until the script is in the right shape."

If only big fans could be the producers on every beloved property, no fans would ever lose sleep. Are you slightly reassured, now? And hey, post your Akira dream cast. DiCaprio knows you're out there, and he might just listen.

You may have noted my mention of a playwright named Beau Willimon last week. If not, it was in a post about a remake of the British miniseries The Jury, which Finding Neverland's Marc Forster will direct. I pointed out that Forster actually handpicked Willimon to be the screenwriter of that project after reading the guy's play Farragut North. The political drama is set to open on Broadway early next year with Jake Gyllenhaal starring and Mike Nichols directing, and I figured that eventually there'd be a movie in the works, possibly with that prestigious duo re-teamed for the big screen version. But no, it seems Gyllenhaal and Nichols just aren't good enough for Warner Bros., who owns the film rights. Instead they've cast some guy named Leonardo DiCaprio for the lead and are hoping to sign on some old television has-been named George Clooney to direct.

According to Variety, the project is also being produced by DiCaprio's company, Appian Way (The Aviator), and Clooney's company (with Grant Heslov), Smoke House (Leatherheads); both companies apparently teamed up after reading the script (were they at the same party as Forster?) and then together brought the thing to Warners. In the film, DiCaprio will play a young idealist working on a presidential campaign who ultimately ends up resorting to bad tactics like backstabbing and trickery. Basically, it sounds like the sad story of the common politico who still thinks there's room for Mr. Smith's out there, only to wake up and discover the real world of Washington. But as much as it sounds familiar, or obvious, or otherwise trite, it seems the play is somewhat autobiographical, as Willimon based it on his experience working on Howard Dean's 2004 campaign. Certainly the film would be a great timely release for 2008, but right now the film, which Willimon is adapting himself, doesn't have a clear start date. Hopefully Warners can grab DiCaprio as soon as he's done with Ridley Scott's Body of Lies and Clooney as soon as he's done with the Coen Brothers' Burn After Reading for a just-in-time Fall opening.