Leonardo DiCaprio Passed On 'STAR WARS: EPISODE VII' For 'ROBOTECH' ?
Leonardo DiCaprio reportedly passed on a role in J.J. Abrams' "Star Wars: Episode VII" to pursue a role in an adaptation of Robotech. Is the live-action adaptation finally gaining traction?
Reportedly, famous A-list actor Leonardo DiCaprio (The Great Gatsby, Inception) was up for a role in Star Wars but passed because he is keen on landing a role in a live-action adaptation of (what Americans know as) "Robotech". Without going too deeply into the completed history of which Japanes anime series the footage in "Robotech" originates from, the anime tells the story of humanity in a far distant future and their battle against the alien Zentraedi. The conflict resides over an alien ship that crashes on Earth and the the efforts by the aliens to retrieve it. In the midst of the conflict, humans gain knowledge of the limitless energy known as "protoculture," a discovery that's a launch point for future "Robotech" series. The primary protagonists of the series is a young pilot named Rick Hunter, which is presumably the role DiCaprio would be after.
Back in January, newcomer Nic Mathieu was hired by Warner Bros. to direct the picture so it appears that development on the film is highly active. Back in 2007, actor Tobey Maguire, at the height of his "Spider-Man" fame tried to get a live-action Robotech film off the ground but it sputtered and flamed out before it could take off. British television writer and novelist Tom Rob Smith (Child 44) was the last person on a long list of writer to take a shot at the script.
As far as Star Wars: Episode VII, while DiCaprio is reportedly out of the mix, two other actors are still in the running, Ryan Gosling and Zac Effron. More on that story HERE.
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