20 December 2002
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If Alexander is So Great, Why Not Two Giant Epics?
Some predicted that the announcement Leonardo DiCarprio would
star in the life story of the legendary Alexander the Great, in a film directed by Baz
Luhrmann ("Moulin Rouge"), would be the end of a competing project to star Colin
Farrell ("Minority Report") and be directed by controversial filmmaker Oliver
Stone ("JFK"). Instead, all it did was speed up plans for Stone's film so that
they can reach theaters before the Luhrmann version.
Both movies are projected to be among the most expensive ever made, and there are many
cases in the past where this happened, and only one of the two films was a success. It is
usually the first to come out, but not always. And sometimes both movies can fail.
Stone has been working intensely on his film about the Macedonian conqueror for the past
year and is said to now have a strong script by Ted Tally and to have set most of the
locations where it will be shot, primarily in Morocco. The king of Morocco, Mohammed VI,
is helping arrange for the country's army to work as extras. Shooting could begin early
next year.
That would put Stone's "Alexander" well ahead of Luhrmann's version, since both
Luhrmann and his star, DiCaprio, have other commitments which will keep them from even
commencing principal photography until the second half of next year. DiCaprio is committed
to starring in the big budget movie "Aviator" for his "Gangs Of New
York" director Martin Scorsese first.
Farrell is a 26-year-old Irishman who has quickly become a hot property in Hollywood. In
short order, he has starred in "Tigerland," "American Outlaw,"
"Hart's War," and "Minority Report." He will be seen next year in
"Daredevil" with Ben Affleck and as part of the ensemble cast of the big screen
version of the TV series "S.W.A.T."
Farrell did extensive screen tests for Stone to win the part of Alexander. His only other
current film commitment is for the low budget independent movie "A Home at the End of
the World," based on a script by "The Hours" author Michael Cunningham.
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