JAPAN: Hollywood stars, Leonardo Dicaprio and Will Smith, were in Tokyo to promote separate films

Hollywood stars, Leonardo Dicaprio and Will Smith were in Tokyo, promoting separate films on Thursday (January 18). Hollywood heart-throb Leonardo Dicaprio held a news conference with heavyweight movie director Martin Scorsese for their film "The Departed". The film, a remake of the Hong Kong drama "Infernal affairs", is set in south Boston and focuses on a battle between Irish-American mobsters and the police. It has scored the best opening at the U.S. box office in Scorsese's entire career, and has been touted as a likely Oscar contender after Scorsese won the best director for this movie at the 64th Golden Globe Awards earlier this week. "There are a lot of people that are excited about this movie. Whether that will translate to golden statues or not remains to be seen," DiCaprio said. "I think it very much deserves an award. And I certainly think the man to my left does. It's quite, quite long overdue and almost a practical joke at this point that it hasn't happened. But, like I said, it's left up to everyone else, not us," he added. Scorsese, seated beside DiCaprio on stage, was equally modest about his Oscar prospects. "I learned a long time ago with 'Mean Streets' and 'Taxi Driver' that you know, you can't make a film to get a golden statue. If you try, it doesn't work," he said. "So for me, the reception by the audience and also by some critical groups in America and other places in the world have been, quite honestly, a surprise to me because I learned, once again, how much I really don't know when I made this picture." The pair last visited Japan together when they were promoting the film "Gangs of New York" in 2002. Actor Will Smith visited Japan's cabinet office and met with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday, shaking hands with Abe and sitting down for talks with him where Smith gave him an autographed poster of his latest film "The Pursuit of Happyness". The film is based on the memoirs of Chris Gardner, a father who struggled to raise his son in poverty during the recession-hit 1980s before hitting it big as a self-made millionaire and CEO of a Chicago-based brokerage firm. "It was the first time I met a Prime Minister, so I was a little nervous. I didn't want to say anything wrong, you know. It seemed to go well. He seems smart and warm and caring. It seemed like Japan is in good hands," Smith told reporters after his meeting. "The Departed" opens through Japan on Saturday (January 20), with "The Pursuit of Happyness" will open the following Saturday (January 27).

ITN Source | January 25, 2007

Tags:. .surprise. .prime. .practical. .met. .japans