Leonardo DiCaprio is hoping to follow the success of his Oscar-nominated wildlife documentary Virunga with a string of new environmental movies in an exclusive deal with Netflix. The staunch environmental activist will produce a number of documentaries promoting the importance of conservation in a multi-year partnership with the company.
“Working with Netflix on Virunga has sparked a shared vision about projects that we want to develop and bring to viewers,” the Wolf of Wall Street star explained in a statement. “There's never been a more critical time for our planet or more of a need for gifted storytellers to help us all make sense of the issues we face.
"Through this partnership with Netflix, I hope to give documentary filmmakers doing urgent and important work the chance to have their films seen immediately by audiences all around the world.”
Leonardo Dicaprio signs multi-year deal with Netflix (WENN)
The deal comes after their first collaboration, Virunga was nominated for the Best Documentary Oscar this year; eventually losing out to Ed Snowden picture CitizenFour. Directed by Orlando von Einsiendel, the real-life film follows the attempts to safeguard the Congo national park of the same name in the midst of poaching, exploitation o natural resources and internal conflict.
The notorious playboy, who is currently rumoured to be hooking up with Bajan pop star Rihanna, is best known for his captivating performances on screen, and his wild antics off it, but has lately rather channeled his energy into promoting environmental conservation. In September, he addressed the UN Climate Change summit while his The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation has raised millions to protect endangered species across safeguard habitats including the oceans, Antarctica and rain forests.
The move is just the latest of movies announced by the online streaming service. The company are set to make the sequel to 2000's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon as well as the upcoming Jamie Dornan war film Jadotville. Not to mention dominating the small screen with House of Cards and Orange is the New Black both breaking into their third series, the channel has well and truly become one of the biggest players in television, and now Hollywood.
