Fresh off the news that he’ll produce and probably star in two big budget Akira flicks and the rumor that he’ll star in Cocaine Cowboys, Leonardo DiCaprio is now circling a remake of the 2008 South Korean serial killer thriller The Chaser. What’s more, according to Variety, screenwriter William Monahan, the guy responsible for a lot of the sparks in Leo’s The Departed, has been pegged by Warner Bros. to write the script. While nothing’s signed as of yet, Monahan’s also producing the film.
This would be the third team-up between Monahan and DiCaprio, with their Body of Lies, directed by Ridley Scott, due this October. And, of course, The Departed was itself a remake of the Hong Kong hit Infernal Affairs. DiCaprio would reportedly play a down-and-out ex-cop who sets out to find a girl being used like a pawn by a serial killer against the police.
Released last month in Asia, The Chaser has banked more than $20 million. The plot is a bit seedy, as the ex-cop that DiCaprio is set to play is actually a pimp who runs a massage parlor as a cover. When his girls start disappearing, he makes a connection to the killer, finds him and the police become involved and yet they obsess over the body count. The cop sets out to find the last missing girl, who the serial killer hints is still alive, before the cops have to release him. There is reportedly lots of social commentary packed into the low budget film as well, especially regarding police focus.
Click here for the trailer. No U.S. release date has been for the original film at this time.
Discuss: Do you find the premise of The Chaser intriguing for the talent involved?
Source Link: Shadow20002
March 7th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
Um, guys, your first sentence saying “he’ll star and produce two big budget Akira flicks”… No.
As your own article on Akira (correctly) says, DiCaprio is producing and MAY star in Akira, but this isn’t a sure thing yet.
March 7th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
@ Gordon
AICN reported shortly thereafter that DiCaprio and Gordon-Levitt are definite locks to star, and that would go with we have heard as well.
March 7th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
Honestly, I think that this story once more filmed is just wasted time, and I really hope, Leonardo won’t do it!!!
Why does Hollywood lately indulge in remaking Asian movies with stories that have been told hundreds of times??? I don’t get it. Don’t they get enough good scripts in Hollywood? I bet, they do get very good scripts and don’t really need stories from Asia, which are, in fact, stories from Hollywood as well. So these plots are adapted and readapted. This is really silly. I don’t like it..and I don’t like those Asian crime stories in general.
March 7th, 2008 at 4:53 pm
Monahan has a lot of interesting stuff to say about Asian film and why this type of thing could be a great project in the U.S. I thought he did a fantastic job with the Departed script and with DiCaprio on board, I have all the confidence in the world that this will be a very good film, if not something even better.
March 7th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
Will someone please stop Dicaprio? For the love of all that is Asian, it is just ridiculous that this cat, with some much influence and so many connections, can’t find anything ORIGINAL to do. All of this crap just reeks of I-Want-Oscar desperation.
March 7th, 2008 at 6:49 pm
While The Departed happened to be very successful with the Oscars, it, like these other projects, certainly do not reek of Oscar desperation.
Are you kidding me?! A gritty serial killer cop movie, a violent spy movie, and a remake of a sci fi futuristic action movie, just like The Departed, a hardnosed gritty cop drama popcorn movie don’t pander to Oscars. Nothing against Atonement or Brokeback Mountain (one of which I loved, one of which I thought was pretty poor), but those are far closer to fitting the norms of Oscar expectations and pandering.
March 7th, 2008 at 10:51 pm
TELEGRAM TO HOLLYWOOD:
STOP CASTING LEONARD DICAPRIO. STOP.
THE MAN-CHILD IS A POOR ACTOR, YOU CAN SEE HIM SWEAT IN EVERY ROLE. STOP
SOMEBODY ALSO TELL HIM THAT HIS FACE MOSS LOOKS LIKE AN ABORTED ATTEMPT AT AN ABE LINCOLN. STOP.
THAT IS ALL.