Screenhead

From Anime News Network comes word that Leonardo DiCaprio is considering casting Japan’s SMAP pop group as the main leads in the upcoming live-action adaptation of the 1993 anime film Ninja Scroll.

Additional news comes from the Nikkan Sports newspaper that casting is in progress with DiCaprio expressing his intention to cast Japanese people.

The SMAP is a five-man group formed in 1988, consisting of Masahiro Nakai, Takuya Kimura, Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, Goro Inagaki and Shingo Katori. They have acted in various films based on manga and anime.

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Ninja Scroll is set to be written by Alex Tse (Watchmen) for a Warner Bros. adaptation of the popular, classic Japanese anime feature. Appian Way, Leonardo DiCaprio’s production company, is producing in conjunction with Madhouse Pictures and Jungo Maruta.

Ninja Scroll classed together with Akira and Ghost in the Shell is one of the most popular animes out of Japan. The story follows a ninja during feudal Japan who must fight eight demonic warriors in order to save Japan.

The original movie was rated R and released in Japan in 1993. It featured a stone skin villain, a hunchback with a wasp nest as his hump and woman whose snake tattoos come to life.

With Alex Tse set to write the script, the adaptation should generate some real players.

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