The critically acclaimed actor who has been known recently for more Oscar-baity and controversial fare like the upcoming J. Edgar and Django Unchained, respectively, looks like he's shaking things up with a new project. Leonardo DiCaprio is set to kick some ass as the star of Satori, a film adaptation of Don Winslow's bestselling novel.
Set in the Cold War era of the 1950s, DiCaprio will play Nicholai Hel, a Westerner who is trained in martial arts and becomes a military leader. Imprisoned in a U.S. jail in Tokyo following the mercy killing of his mentor and father figure, Hel is recruited by the CIA to assassinate a Soviet ambassador to China under threat of returning to jail if he fails to carry out his mission. Betrayed by an unknown threat, Hel has to run for his life as various intelligence agencies chase after him.
Sounds similar to that other guy, Jason Bourne, right? But when has anyone ever really seen Leo in a role quite like this? Warner Bros. sees Satori as a potential replacement for the Bourne series and with Hollywood on the hunt for the next action superstar—is Mr. DiCaprio the right man for the job? The actor has studiously avoided appearing in sequels, but the move would mark a new and exciting phase in the career of an actor who has chosen his roles very carefuly since the early 1990s.
DiCaprio will next be seen on the big screen as FBI director J. Edgar Hoover in Clint Eastwood's biopic J. Edgar. He is also currently filming Baz Luhrmann's remake of The Great Gatsby.
[via Deadline]
