Leonardo DiCaprio's a pretty cool dude, not just because he's a great actor but because he uses his celebrity to champion a number of causes. We've heard of his plans to make movies on animal conservation along with his pals Tom Hardy and Tobey Maguire, but his greatest interest has been on the issue of climate change. Years ago he teamed with one of my idols, the brilliant Thom Hartmann for the climate change documentary The 11th Hour, which is even more terrifying than Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth. If you can find it, check out his other short film, Global Warning. And now we see DiCaprio involved with another pet project, teaming with Netflix for the nature doc, Virunga.
DiCaprio and his Appian Way Productions have struck a deal with Netflix to release Virunga, directed by Orlando von Einsiedel and described as part nature doc, part investigative journalism. DiCaprio will exec-produce the film which follows "rangers as they are caught in the crossfire of poachers, militia and industry in Africa’s oldest national park." It will largely center on the Congo and endangered gorillas in the region. So basically you've got all of DiCaprio's top issues all in one place and as someone who shares many of the same concerns I'm looking forward to this one. The film debuted at Tribeca earlier this year and was picked up by Netflix some time ago, announcing a November 7th release date that is still in place. But having DiCaprio come aboard as a producer is going to bring the film much wider attention.
So ring up another victory for Netflix who are securing tons of exclusive content from some big names. They recently struck a deal with Adam Sandler to star in four upcoming comedies, and the streaming network will release the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon sequel next year. You can check out the trailer for Virunga below. [Deadline]
Trailer - Virunga Netflix Documentary by Trailer Motion
