It seems like Baz Luhrmann has been trying forever to get a new film made. First it was an Untitled Alexander the Great film that was supposed to star Leonardo DiCaprio and Nicole Kidman, but that fell through as Oliver Stone beat him to the punch with his travesty and then it was this latest Untitled effort in which he originally had Russell Crowe and Kidman once again tapped to star.
Well, as most of you have read Crowe fell off the project due to “disagreements with the studio,” but Baz is not to be discouraged as he has already found his replacement in Hugh Jackman.
Jacks is coming off major success with the latest incarnation of Wolverine in X-Men 3 and is now prime to star alongside Nicole in Baz’s Australian period epic for 20th Century Fox.
The film is set before World War II, pic centers on an English aristocrat who joins forces with a rough-hewn cattle driver after her northern Australian ranch is threatened by Brit cattle barons.
Casting keeps the film on track to begin in February.
Luhrmann was quoted by Variety saying, “I rarely make a film and my process is unorthodox, but this fell into place nicely with Hugh… He’s a tremendously strong choice.”
Jackman will next be seen in Woody Allen’s Scoop opposite Scarlett Johansson followed by Darren Aronofsky’s The Fountain and then Christopher Nolan’s The Prestige.
