Hey folks, Harry here with fantastic news. For quite some time now Leonardo DiCaprio has been dying to play one of the greatest sideshow performers in the long infamous life of the grosspectacular world of barkers and freaks... JOHNNY ECK! Johnny was simply one of the most amazing performers of the realm of sideshow freaks... He performed magic, he danced on his hands, he painted beautiful screen paintings, he was one of the stars of Tod Browning's FREAKS
Above you see Johnny with Randion, the human worm... The Living Torso as some called him. With DiCaprio as Johnny, can we hope that Morgan Freeman or Ving Rhames might cameo as Randion... and more direct to the point... Will the film JOHNNIE ECK attempt to take us into the realm of Tod Browning's classic FREAKS?
I certainly hope so! I have to hand to Leonardo, he has to be cool. Anyone that has held onto this project for as long as him, knocking on doors left and right to see it get made... Well, Leonardo has to be as cool as they come to want to play Johnny Eck.
Well Today, Michael Fleming from Variety tells us that Fox Searchlight has indeed signed on to the project and that the screenwriter of EDWARD SCISSORHANDS, Caroline Thompson has signed aboard to write the script. Do we dare hope that Tim Burton and Danny Elfman will hop aboard at a dramatic pay cut to do the material they were created to handle?
Here's a brief segment where Caroline tells us a bit about her approach to the material:
``This is a great love story between two brothers, where the one who seems normal is the one who has all the troubles,'' said Thompson. ``It's not that different from Tom Hanks playing 'Forrest Gump,' an unlikely hero people immediately felt comfortable with. I promise you that within minutes, you'll get past the idea of Leo playing the role of Johnny. We've met, and Leonardo has a sweetness about him, and if you remember his performance in 'Gilbert Grape,' he's got the acting ability. I have always been drawn to stories about outsiders, people who suffer infirmities either physical or mental. Robert, who became the manager, very much wanted to be a magician and never made it. Johnny wanted to be a train conductor, he didn't want to be in a position where people stared at him.''
