'Don't Look Up,' a new film by Leonardo DiCaprio, is described as a gift by him. Not because he got to work with film stars like Jennifer Lawrence, Cate Blanchett, Meryl Streep, Timothee Chalamet, and Jonah Hill, to name a few, but because the film captures the perils of climate change while also entertaining audiences.
"I think we all looked at this as an incredibly unique gift," DiCaprio, one of Hollywood's most outspoken environmentalists, said.
“We’d been wanting to get the message out there about the climate crisis, and Adam (McKay) really cracked the code with creating this narrative,” he said.
'Don't Look Up,' a satirical look at how the media and politicians treat climate issues, will be released in theatres on Friday and on Netflix on December 24. The plot revolves around two lowly astronomers (DiCaprio and Lawrence) attempting to warn a world that appears unconcerned about a massive comet on its way to destroy the Earth in six months.
DiCaprio said he'd been wanting to make a film about the climate crisis for a while but hadn't been able to find the right approach until now.
“You either do some existential journey through a person’s lifetime, or you make it a catastrophe movie where New York freezes over,” DiCaprio said.
Actress Streep plays an egotistical U.S. president, with actor Hill as her fawning son and chief adviser. Australian actress Blanchett and American actor Tyler Perry play breezy TV news anchors, actor Chalamet is a teen drop-out and actor Mark Rylance plays a bizarre tech billionaire with his own agenda.
Film's director Adam McKay said that while people may view the film as taking a political stance “the big trick is that we want you to laugh”.
“At its root, it’s a comedy,”
DiCaprio stated that he was drawn to the movie because he wanted to support scientists.
“I wanted to tip my hat to people who devote their lives to this issue, who know what they’re talking about, and try to give them a little bit of a voice,” DiCaprio said.
On the progress of efforts to address the climate crisis, the Oscar winner called himself a Debbie Downer, but he added: “Hopefully films like this … start to create different conversations, and more people talking about it will push the private sector and the powers that be to make massive changes.”
The film is set to release in select theatres on December 10 and will be streaming on Netflix from December 24 onwards.
