Original
The Backstory: This rare shot of happy chappy Leonardo DiCaprio was taken on the set of Inception .
In contrast to the actor's furrowed-brow intensity on-screen, this shows him in unusually high spirits. Maybe he's nailed a take, perhaps he's figured out the film's ending.
Either way, the crew looks pretty surprised by his laidback groove. Same goes for the world's bloggers, who quickly devised a new Internet meme: to find the most incogruous, amusing and downright bizarre locations for Leo to strut his stuff.
It's a bit like Where's Wally? but with DiCaprio doing his thang...
Inception poster
Why It’s Genius: Let's be honest, the original po-faced poster needed lightening up.
The added advantage of this is that the serious expressions of the other cast members work perfectly. While Ellen Page is casting him a furtive (appreciative?) glance, the guys are going out of their way not to stare at his gambolling.
(500) Days of Summer
Why It’s Genius: Rising legend Joseph Gordon-Levitt based his performance as Leo's wingman in Inception on the star's sharp-suited, ultra-efficient model.
But he'd proved himself capable of a lighter, more frolicsome persona in last year's (500) Days of Summer . So it seems apt that strutting Leo would come and lend a hand to that film's showstopping musical number.
Desperado
Why It’s Genius: The 'walk away from an explosion' set-piece is one of the must-haves of the Hollywood action movie, but who hasn't thought it could be improved with the addition of a prancing DiCaprio?
Here, one of the finest examples of the walk-away gets a makeover, helped no end by the possibility that Salma Hayek and Antonio Banderas are trying to get away from weird stalker Leo.
The Exorcist
Why It’s Genius: All too often, a bad Photoshop job will plonk the meme into a photo with completely different lighting and texture. Here, real care and attention has been paid to fit Leo into the image's monochrome menace.
Nowhere is DiCaprio's Jack Nicholson-like demonic grin better shown than here. For all the world, it looks like he's leaving the scene of the Satanic crime for poor old Max Von Sydow to mop up.
King Kong
Why It's Genius: This one's all about the scale.
Tiny next to Peter Jackson's battling behemoths, it looks like Kong's scrap with the T-Rex has temporarily been postponed to allow Leo past, like a duckling on a zebra crossing.
No wonder the ape looks pissed off at DiCaprio's guerilla tactics.
All the Single Ladies
Why It's Genius: Beyonce's leotard-and-legs routine is so copied it's practically a meme in its own right, so why shouldn't Leo - or, technically, Leos - join in?
It also suggests the unlikely prospect of a new head-cocking, fist-punching dance craze where we're all wearing smiley Leo masks.
The Last Airbender
Why It's Genius: Once upon a time, Chris Nolan and M. Night Shyamalan were considered cinematic equals.
But since Inception trounced The Last Airbender critically and commercially, the two couldn't be further apart in reputation, so Leo's presence here is just rubbing salt into the wound.
Inception
Why It's Genius: Where most of struttin' Leo's appearances are in other people's films, it was only a matter of time before the image was used to subvert the source.
This pic in particular offers the tantalising prospect that DiCaprio's dream-stealer Dom Cobb is a sadist who takes perverse delight in fucking with Ellen Page's mind.
Jurassic Park
Why It's Genius: The sheer nonchalance of Leo's strut gives it real incongruity in action scenes.
Here, it's all about the contrast between panicky Sam Neill and DiCaprio's unflappable stroll. Subtext: you think dinosaurs have the 'wow' factor? Check out the acid-fried shit Nolan's come up with.
The Silence of the Lambs
Why It's Genius: Bug-eyed Hannibal Lecter and grinning loony Leo? It looks like some demented new take on the 'odd couple' sitcom.
Bonus points for taking the piss out the obsessive security protocols surrounding Lecter's cell, since DiCaprio is clearly about to strut the fuck outta there.
