Ninja Scroll - DiCaprio wants SMAP

Leonardo DiCaprio is considering casting Japan's SMAP pop group as the main leads in Warner Brothers and Appian Way's proposed live-action adaptation of the 1993 anime feature "Ninja Scroll" reports The Anime News Network.

According to the Nikkan Sports newspaper, casting is in progress with DiCaprio's expressing intention to "cast with Japanese people."

The five members of SMAP — Masahiro Nakai, Takuya Kimura, Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, Goro Inagaki and Shingo Katori — have acted in several films based on manga and anime since the band's formation in 1988, but have not acted together in the same film since 1994's "Shoot".

Yoshiaki Kawajiri wrote and directed the original 1993 anime about a wandering ninja fighting a conspiracy of demons.

Source: Dark Horizons

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UPDATED: Leonardo DiCaprio NOT to be a Button Man

UPDATE: Doh! Looks like I fell victim to an unsubstantiated rumour regarding this. MTV have this to say about it:

The upcoming film “Button Man” is not related in any way to “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” — and, contrary to earlier reports, it’s not related to Leonardo DiCaprio, either.

Entertainment Weekly is crying foul on Internet rumors that the “Body of Lies” actor would star in the “2000 A.D.” comic property. The news site is reporting that Leo is not attached to “Button Man” according to studio representatives. The rumor originated from a listing in Production Weekly, a print magazine that provides information on Hollywood projects.

While DiCaprio’s involvement is now officially scrapped, there is movement on “Button Man.” A DreamWorks representative tells Entertainment Weekly that “Eagle Eye” screenwriter Hillary Seitz will pen the screenplay for the comic book adaptation.

So there you have it. If DiCaprio is not to be a Button Man, who could you see in the role?

The original post is below:

According to Production Weekly, Button Man focuses on Harry Exton, an ex-mercenary that participates in a violent underground sport known as “the game.” Exton is one of several killers — appropriately called ‘button men’ — that define victory by slaying their opponent or claiming the first two joints of their victim’s finger. When Harry decides to retire from the sport, he learns the hard way that his own survival is anything but a game.

DiCaprio is expected to star as Exton in the “2000 A.D.” comic book adaptation, from the same publishers of the in-development “Judge Dredd” relaunch. The actor-producer has snatched up the rights to several graphic novel properties as of late, such as the manga franchises “Ninja Scroll” and “Akira” — though he says that he won’t star in either film.

The erstwhile “Titanic” star has also found himself at the center of some higher profile comic book rumors in the last year. Alongside “Inglourious Basterds” actor Brad Pitt, DiCaprio has been mentioned as a contender for Steve Rogers in “The First Avenger: Captain America.”

Other than DiCaprio’s newly announced “Button Man” and his attachment to “The Dark Knight” director Christopher Nolan’s upcoming film “Inception,” not much is known about the Academy Award nominated actor’s involvement in comic book movie properties.

Source: MTV

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Ninja Scrolls to go Live Action

This from First Showing.

First it was Akira, now it's Ninja Scroll, too. Leonardo DiCaprio's production company Appian Way will be producing a live-action adaptation of the classic anime movie for Warner Brothers. Screenwriter Alex Tse, who wrote Zack Snyder's upcoming Watchmen as well as Michael Mann's upcoming Frankie Machine, will be writing the script. No director has been announced yet, but considering Akira picked up a no-name director, I expect Ninja Scroll to probably do the same. At one point, it was rumored that James McTeigue's Ninja Assassin was a Ninja Scroll remake, but that was quickly debunked. Now it's actually happening.

Ninja Scroll is a Japanese action thriller anime written and directed by acclaimed filmmaker Yoshiaki Kawajiri. The film was first released in Japan in 1993 and made its way to the US in 1996, where it quickly became one of the most popular anime movies in US history. The anime is set feudal Japan and tells the story of a ninja-for-hire who is forced into fighting an old nemesis who is bent on overthrowing the Japanese government. His nemesis is also the leader of a group of demons each with superhuman powers. In addition to Akira, it's regarded as one of the best anime movies ever made and is just as popular.

One of the biggest questions surrounding this is whether or not all of the violence, gore, sex, and nudity will remain intact in this translation. I'm expecting that Warner Brothers will try to make this PG-13, but then again, it could very well be R. I'm thinking they're waiting to see how Ninja Assassin does in theaters, since that is a very hard R ninja movie. Either way, this is quite an exciting future for anime fans, with Akira, Ghost in the Shell, Cowboy Bebop, and now Ninja Scroll all being converted into live-action Hollywood adaptations.

What do you think of that news?

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