'Birdman' still has yet to open in some countries and already has multiple Academy Award nominations. One of these nomination is a 'Best Director' nod for Alejandro González Iñárritu, which will certainly help with his upcoming film's promotion. Said film is already in production, as it happens, and its premise alone is about as far away from 'Birdman' as you can get.

Leonardo DiCaprio as the mythic trapper John Glass in 'The Revenant'
Leonardo Dicaprio as the mythic trapper John Glass in 'The Revenant'

'The Revenant' is based on the 2003 novel of the same name by Michael Punke, and follows the story of American fur trapper Hugh Glass, who was injured by a grizzly bear on a hunt, and left for dead by his fellow trappers. After coming to and discovering that he had suffered horrific wounds before being left 200 miles from civilisation, Glass was forced to crawl that distance through an area of disputed land that various Native American tribes were fighting over. All the time, Glass was unarmed, alone, and close to death from his wounds. And if you haven't guessed by now, yes, it is based on a true story.

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Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Hugh Glass (after spending the last three years portraying charismatic millionaires he's now playing a character who will spend the majority of the film with literally nothing but his own natural survival instinct), as well as Tom Hardy and Will Poulter as the people left behind with Glass to bury him, who later ran off when they were attacked by a Native American raiding party.

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Before Alejandro González Iñárritu joined the project, Korean director Park Chan-wook was set to direct the adaptation with Samuel L. Jackson supposedly starring in the lead role. Later, John Hillcoat took on the project with Christian Bale in talks to portray Glass on the big screen. González Iñárritu didn't sign on as director until August 2011, with principle photography not starting until October 2014.

Alejandro González Iñárritu on the set of 'The Revenant' with Leonardo DiCaprio
Alejandro González Iñárritu on the set of 'The Revenant' with Leonardo DiCaprio

We've still got a while to wait for 'The Revenant', as it has the tentative limited release date of Christmas Day 2015, before opening theatrically in January 2016.

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