Leonardo DiCaprio missed out on a 1993 Halloween cult classic, as Kenny Ortega recently revealed. DiCaprio began his career starring in the horror film Critters 3 and later went on to appear in several commercially and critically successful films, from Titanic to Shutter Island. However, early in his career, the actor also had a chance to star in a Disney film.

However, this major casting opportunity did not happen, as DiCaprio left the Halloween film to star in a movie that secured his first-ever Oscar nomination.

Kenny Ortega revealed during a panel at ’90s Con in Hartford, Connecticut, that the casting team of Hocus Pocus had considered Leonardo DiCaprio. He was set to play the role of Max Dennison. However, the role eventually went to someone else.

Omri Katz, known for Matinee and Adventures in Dinosaur City, appeared in the film as Dennison. However, the director was happy and impressed with the final cast. He also had high praise for Thora Birch, who played the role of Dennison’s sister (via PEOPLE).

DiCaprio had also mentioned the film in his 2014 interview with Variety, revealing that he was offered a lot of money to play the role in the Disney film. However, the actor instead chose to join another film, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, which had a low budget. The film became one of the most talked-about projects of his career, earning the actor his first Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He was just 19 when What’s Eating Gilbert Grape impressed critics and audiences.  

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And the actor has continued to add more gems to his name. One of the latest could be his upcoming film Heat sequel.

The famous ’90s movie Heat, starring Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, is getting a sequel. And the sequel movie is set to star Leonardo DiCaprio. With Michael Mann as the writer and director, the film will also star Christian Bale and Adam Driver. There was also talk about Inde Navarrette joining the movie’s cast.

However, the actress clarified that she did not refuse the role but had auditioned for it for nearly two months and did not land the part. So, there remain more interesting names to join the cast of this much-anticipated sequel. Until Leonardo DiCaprio returns with this action thriller, fans can look forward to his other films.

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What do you think about the story of Hocus Pocus getting Leonardo DiCaprio as Dennison? Let us know in the comments.