August 2011

28 August 2011

'Gatsby' mania sweeps Sydney

Gatsby mania continues to sweep Sydney as we count down to the beginning of the movie shoot. The Daily Telegraph has posted a couple of articles tracking where the film's stars have been spotted around the city - one called 'Your very own map of where you can find the stars' and another entitled 'How to spot a Gatsby in Sydney'. The paper also reported that Joel Edgerton was seen surfing at Bondi Beach last Thursday, and on the Wednesday night "he joined co-stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan and Isla Fisher and Gatsby director Baz Luhrmann for a 'bonding dinner'. The A-listers, plus some crew, ate at inner-city French bistro Felix, using a rear entrance. 'They came in late and ordered some drinks and a lot of food,' said a spy at the Justin Hemmes-owned restaurant. 'They looked like they were having a great time.'" The Daily Telegraph also reported the following article, speculating about the film and reporting that filming is due to begin next week:

The Great Gatsby is a golden bonus in 3D
The Daily Telegraph, 26 August 2011

It has all the features of a bona fide blockbuster - a $120 million budget, three of Hollywood's biggest stars and a stylish story rated one of America's literary classics. And it's happening in Sydney. The Harbour City is taking centre stage for director Baz Luhrmann's highly anticipated adaptation of F Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, a mammoth production involving 275 crew - and another 150 on post-production - that is expected to inject more than $120 million into our economy. Luhrmann's grand vision involves recreating 1920s New York on the Fox Studio soundstages, with superstar Leonardo DiCaprio headlining as Jay Gatsby.

... With the stakes this high, the director is relying on DiCaprio to help pull off a creative feat as daring as their eye-popping 1996 MTV retread of Romeo + Juliet. They will be supported by Tobey Maguire as Nick Carraway and Carey Mulligan as Daisy Buchanan. Also touching down in Sydney for costume fittings and make-up tests this week were home-grown stars Joel Edgerton, who plays Daisy's husband Tom, and Isla Fisher, as Tom's mistress Myrtle Wilson.

... Luhrmann's epic should bring $88 million in production expenditure to the state and create 1300 jobs. And Deputy Premier and Trade and Investment Minister Andrew Stoner said: "There's no doubt that having Leo in Sydney is a boost for our city's profile around the world." Filming for Gatsby is due to start next week.

In the meantime the stars have been immersing themselves in 1920s culture, scrutinising footage from the era to ensure they can walk the walk and talk the talk. With a four-month shoot looming, they appear determined to settle in and enjoy Sydney's delights - particularly DiCaprio. The 36-year-old is believed unhappy with his current digs, a penthouse in the Gazebo building in Elizabeth Bay with 360-degree city views. DiCaprio and his US agent were seen checking out the Royal Suite of the Shangri-La in The Rocks on Thursday. "He came in (to the Shangri-La) to check out the penthouse, apparently he wasn't happy with his current accommodation," a hotel source said. "He said he's looking for something more secure (in the long term) but will stay in hotels for a while."

Isla Fisher and Baz Luhrmann on 'Gatsby' Set

Rex USA has captured the first image of Isla Fisher in hair and make-up as Myrtle Wilson on the set of The Great Gatsby, which has been posted online by various media sources, including the UK's Daily Mail. Rex USA has also captured the first picture I've seen of Baz Luhrmann on set, which again was featured in the Daily Mail.

DiCaprio and Maguire Together on 'Gatsby' Set

Various media sources have posted a variety of photos of Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire driving around Fox Studios in a 1929 convertible to be used in the filming of The Great Gatsby. (Socialitelife.com posted the most with a total of 15 images). The Herald Sun reported: "Luhrmann bought two of the vintage collectable vehicles for his blockbuster 3D remake, which are worth about $3 million and have been sourced from an American museum." (Visitors to Baz the Great! may recall that I first posted news about these cars back in May 2011, when TMZ provided images of the cars bought).

The Daily Telegraph posted the above photo and further reported: "Once considered the ultimate status symbol in the 1930s and owned by the likes of Al Capone, Howard Hughes and Mae West, the Duesenbergs were reportedly sourced from an American auto museum and shipped to Australia for the four-month Gatsby shoot. It is understood the actors took their first driving lesson in one of the vintage roadsters yesterday as pre-production continues on the $150 million 3D epic, which will be shot mostly at Sydney's Fox Studios. Shooting on the hugely anticipated film - also starring British actress Carey Mulligan and Aussies Isla Fisher and Joel Edgerton - is scheduled to begin on September 5."

24 August 2011

DiCaprio and Maguire on 'Gatsby' Set!

The first photos of Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire arriving yesterday on the set of The Great Gatsby at Fox Studios in Sydney have been posted by several websites. Pop Sugar provided ten great photos, and CelebrityGossip.net posted the above four pictures (check out the site for larger images):

Leonardo DiCaprio & Tobey Maguire: "Great Gatsby" Guys
CelbrityGossip.net, 23 August 2011

Ready to start work on their latest project, Leonardo DiCaprio and co-star Tobey Maguire were spotted arriving on the Syndey, Australia set of "The Great Gatsby" earlier today (August 23). The casually-clad "Titanic" hunk and his "Spider-Man" star pal were all smiles as they took to their new Down Under locale, eager to get busy on the Baz Luhrmann directed film. Teaming up their mighty star power for the highly-anticipated film, Leo is set to play Jay Gatsby while Tobey will front the role of Nick Carraway. Due out in theaters in November of 2012, the classic remake is an adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's Long Island-set novel, where "Midwesterner Nick Carraway is lured into the lavish world of his neighbor, Jay Gatsby. Soon enough, however, Carraway will see through the cracks of Gatsby's nouveau riche existence, where obsession, madness, and tragedy await."

'Gatsby' Gossip and New Cast Member

Meanwhile, Gatsby gossip has been spreading across the internet over the past few days as the anticipation surrounding the shoot continues to build. The International Business Times posted a helpful article that summarises each of the seven main characters in the movie. The Herald Sun revealed that landmarks such as New York's Plaza Hotel and Gatsby's Long Island mansion are being recreated at Fox Studios for the shoot. We know that pre-production has been underway for some time, and now the stars are arriving in Sydney ahead of next month's shoot.

Carey Mulligan reportedly arrived in Australia on Saturday, with The Daily Telegraph posting the above photo of her shopping on Oxford Street. Leonardo DiCaprio arrived on Monday (see my previous News Update) and headed straight to Fox Studios (where the above photos were snapped) before being seen later at "the exclusive eastern suburbs house he will live in during the four-month shoot". Tobey Maguire also flew in at some point in the last few days, with Joel Edgerton expected to arrive this week.

The Daily Telegraph has also revealed another cast member, reporting that Bollywood leading man Abhishek Bachchan (pictured above) is set to join the cast - "A bonafide movie star in India, Bachchan is also famed as the husband of fellow Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai whom he married in 2007. He has appeared in more than 50 films but The Great Gatsby will be his biggest Hollywood film role to date."

Joel Edgerton Talks More 'Gatsby'

So far, Joel Edgerton has been the star who has revealed the most about the upcoming Gatsby shoot. His comments have been appearing in numerous articles and he recently told Collider.com: "I can tell you as much as I know about Gatsby. We have been sort of in pre-production where we did a really great kind of exploration workshop in New York. I'm off on Monday and back to Australia where everything is getting prepped and ready. We are going to continue rehearsals and then we start shooting in a few weeks. Then it is all systems go until Christmas."

Edgerton also spoke with The Huffington Post in the following article:

Joel Edgerton: 'The Great Gatsby' Rehearsals Continue, Baz Luhrmann Providing Plenty Of Research
The Huffington Post, 22 August 2011

If you're looking to get in touch with Joel Edgerton right now, your best bet may be commissioning a time machine. The Australian actor is starring as Tom Buchanan in the upcoming big screen adaptation of F. Scott's Fitzgerald classic novel, "The Great Gatsby," and in a conversation on Friday about his new family/MMA drama, "Warrior," he gave The Huffington Post the update on the ambitious, star-studded literary translation. Directed by fellow Aussie Baz Luhrmann and featuring co-stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby, Tobey Maguire as Nick Carraway, Carey Mulligan as Daisy Buchanan, and Isla Fisher (according to reports) as Myrtle, the film, Edgerton said, is on its way towards production.

"Everything is going to plan. We're deep into pre-production," Edgerton offered. "I leave LA on Monday to go back to Australia to continue the rehearsal process, which started a couple of months ago back in New York. I have this feeling Baz is almost, he goes so far into the world of his movie that I assume Baz no longer even has a cell phone. I'm sure he's talking in to a ye olde world-y phone and riding a horse to work. We'll get back into rehearsals; it's an incredible experience and i'm looking forward to getting started."

The preparation extends to the rest of the cast; Edgerton says that he has received volumes of information to help him prepare to play the millionaire racist socialite.

"I've got research materials on every angle of the movie, from the crime of the era to... books on the Yale football club, because Tom is the star quarterback," he said. "I've been playing polo, we've got reams of music from the era and pictures and all sorts of documentaries and stuff. Baz likes to surround you 360 degrees in the world of the movie."

That being said, the extra preparation work is something Edgerton actually truly appreciates and enjoys, especially the immensity of the undertaking.

"I'm very well aware that I'm involved in an American classic. I promise you I'm gonna do my best job!" he laughed. "If I could have a career where I spend my time working with directors who don't clock in nine-to-five and half care about their projects but fully live and breathe it, I'm very lucky, as well."

22 August 2011

DiCaprio Arrives in Sydney

Leonardo DiCaprio flew into Sydney this morning in the lead up to the Great Gatsby shoot. The Age posted this video of DiCaprio arriving at Sydney airport, which also gives a bit of background about the film.

This video reports that filming is going to begin next week, which ties in with the 1 September 2011 start date reported by The Sydney Morning Herald article about Elizabeth Debicki that was posted two days ago. However, The Daily Telegraph has reported below that the shoot is set to begin in two weeks. Obviously, there has been several conflicting reports about when the shoot will actually begin, but local media interest is definitely increasing now that the stars are arriving in town!

Further Cast Announced for 'Gatsby'

The Daily Telegraph has revealed more cast members for The Great Gatsby. First of all, Callan McAuliffe, a Sydney teenager, will play the young Jay Gatsby:

Gatsby role just great for young Aussie actor Callan McAuliffe
The Daily Telegraph, 21 August 2011

Sydney teenager Callan McAuliffe is the latest Aussie to land a role in Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby. We can reveal the former Scots College student will play a young Jay Gatsby, with Hollywood heavyweight Leonardo DiCaprio playing the older character. It's a huge coup for the young star on the rise, who has already been seen in movies I Am Number Four and Flipped. Luhrmann will begin filming at Fox Studios in the first week of September with Isla Fisher to return home for the film.


The Daily Telegraph has also revealed that Jack Thompson has been cast in The Great Gatsby, although it is not yet known which character he will play. It has also been reported that another Australian actor, Kim Knuckey, will play a senator in the film:

Jack Thompson's great new role as Leonardo DiCaprio looms
The Daily Telegraph, 20 August 2011

... Confidential can reveal Aussie screen veteran Jack Thompson has been added to the star-studded roster. It's yet to be revealed what role Thompson, who also appeared in Baz Luhrmann's Australia in 2008, will play in the $150 million 3D reboot of the F Scott Fitzgerald novel which begins shooting two weeks from Monday. He will be joined by Underbelly: Razor star Kim Knuckey who will portray a senator.

DiCaprio, meanwhile, is expected to hook up with his co-star and best friend Tobey Maguire, who arrived this week. Recently named Hollywood's highest-paid actor, DiCaprio - who was spotted with his new $100,000 hybrid sports car just before jetting Down Under - is rumoured to have signed a lease on a Point Piper mini-mansion for the duration of the shoot, with a gym and poker table at his disposal. Both DiCaprio and Maguire are renowned as Texas hold 'em enthusiasts. DiCaprio's girlfriend and Gossip Girl star Blake Lively will not arrive in town this weekend due to filming commitments in the US but is expected to visit.

A source told Confidential this week Luhrmann continued to "put the pieces of the puzzle together" for the hugely anticipated film.

Joel Edgerton Talks 'Gatsby'

Meanwhile, Joel Edgerton has again been talking to the media about his involvement in the film, and he has had great things to say about Baz Luhrmann. The following are interesting excerpts from Indie Wire and The Toronto Sun:

Joel Edgerton ... Gets Ready for Great Gatsby
Indie Wire, 20 August 2011

... he’s boarding a plane in just a couple of days to head back to his native land to shoot a new adaptation of the a great American classic. With Leonardo DiCaprio as the wealthy and mysterious Jay Gatsby; Carey Mulligan as Gatsby’s love, Daisy Buchanan; Tobey Maguire as Nick Carraway; Jason Clarke as George Miller; and Isla Fisher as Myrtle, a married woman having an affair with Joel Edgerton’s Tom Buchanan, Baz Luhrmann’s take on the F. Scott Fitzgerald novel will be the most sizzling yet. And while some may wonder about an Aussie director taking a distinctly American, jazz-age story and filming it out of the country, don’t tell that to Edgerton, who believes he’s perfectly suited for the film.

"He’s like P.T. Barnum [laughs]. Baz Luhrmann is the right man for this job, he’s got a visual poetry to way he makes movies, I think he’s akin…to the descriptive language that Fitzgerald had in the book. I think that is so much a part of the success of that book, the characters are great and the story is great but the description language, the way he put it into words is what made that book keen," said Edgerton. "There needs to be a maestro at the helm that’s going to turn that into a thing that matches the book."

Leo's 'Gatsby' to be original
Toronto Sun, 21 August 2011

How will Leonardo DiCaprio's Jay Gatsby compare to Robert Redford's? In name only, according to Australian actor Joel Edgerton who's joined the star-crammed cast of Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby. "They're based on the same book, but I don't think there will be that much else to compare them with."

The novel -- published in 1925 and considered to be F. Scott Fitzgerald's masterpiece -- inspired the 1974 film which, despite boasting Redford and Mia Farrow as well as a Francis Ford Coppola-penned screenplay, was widely regarded as a misfire.

"I think there's a visual language that needs to accompany this film that gets somewhere close to the magic of the descriptive language Fitzgerald used," Edgerton says, referencing Luhrmann's decision to shoot in 3D. "I don't know if that film in the 1970s really hit those heights."

In addition to DiCaprio, the new adaptation stars Carey Mulligan as Daisy Buchanan, the object of the enigmatic Gatsby's desire; Tobey Maguire as narrator Nick Carraway; and Isla Fisher as Myrtle Wilson, who has an affair with Daisy's husband, Tom Buchanan (Edgerton). Originally Ben Affleck was cast as Buchanan, but scheduling conflicts forced him to drop out. The movie begins shooting in Australia next month. "We're all very excited," Edgerton says. "Baz is awesome. I think he's the right person to handle this kind of material."

21 August 2011

'Gatsby' Casting Calls

Feature Film Auditions has posted online information regarding auditions and casting calls for The Great Gatsby, including addresses for extras casting and production companies. The opening paragraph states, "Filming will be for 17 weeks beginning mid-late September 2011 near Sydney and Moore Park, New South Wales, Australia. The casting directors are casting supporting roles, day players, extras, photo doubles, and stand-ins to work various dates during production. Over 400 cast and crew are being employed during principal photography."

Click here to check out all the details, and best of luck to everyone who applies!

Elizabeth Debicki Talks 'Gatsby'

Elizabeth Debicki has chatted with The Sydney Morning Herald about her pivotal role as Jordan Baker in The Great Gatsby. This will be her feature film debut and she has said, ''I studied Gatsby in high school and I was in love with the movie … I guess I do have an affinity with Jordan Baker …maybe that's what Baz saw in me.''

The article also states that filming is due to begin on 1 September 2011, but this is unconfirmed, as other media sources are still reporting mid-September 2011. The names of some other Australian cast members who have been cast in the movie have also been revealed, which I have now added to my Great Gatsby page.

Gatsby's great girl
The Sydney Morning Herald, 20 August 2011

Has Baz Luhrmann unearthed a new Nicole Kidman or even, dare we say it, a Cate Blanchett? The director has a habit of plucking actors from relative obscurity and throwing them centre stage into his mega film productions, albeit with mixed success.

The latest ''star'' Luhrmann is busy polishing inside the sound stages at Fox Studios is Australian actor Elizabeth Debicki, who turned 21 two weeks ago and will make her feature film debut opposite Hollywood's biggest names, despite having only just graduated from drama school.

Debicki will take on the prized role of golfing glamazon Jordan Baker in his glamorous take on the American literary masterpiece, F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, for which the cameras are scheduled to start rolling in Moore Park on September 1.

During rehearsals yesterday Debicki told PS Luhrmann asked her to audition after seeing a reel of the young actor, which had been sent to the director's office in Los Angeles. She was immediately flown to Hollywood, put up in the Chateau Marmont and audtioned with co-stars Leonardo DiCaprio, in the title role, and Tobey Maguire.

''Well it was quite overwhelming at first. Even after I got the role and was flying back, I had to remind myself it had actually happened. It was surreal,'' she said. ''I studied Gatsby in high school and I was in love with the movie … I guess I do have an affinity with Jordan Baker …maybe that's what Baz saw in me.''

The story of Debicki's ''discovery'' is not dissimilar to that of young Brandon Walters, the nine-year-old indigenous boy plucked from the streets of Broome to find himself in the centre of the $150 million Australia in 2006. Big things were thought to be heading the now 14-year-old's way, after he won critical acclaim for his role as Nullah and forged close bonds with Luhrmann and the film's stars Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman. But those aspirations are yet to be fulfilled. ''Hollywood would have been nice, but very realistically it's very tough on all actors,'' Walters's agent, Nathan Morris, told PS this week.

Meanwhile, on The Great Gatsby set, Luhrmann recently said of Debicki's casting: ''It was a surprising result, but Elizabeth's grasp of the material and her chemical connectivity to Tobey Maguire [playing Baker's lover Nick Carraway], in addition to her striking, athletic appearance, had us in a place where we were fully confident and ready to take the leap of giving the role of Jordan Baker to what, I guess, people would term 'a discovery','' he said. ''We are thrilled.''

Other Australian actors who have landed lesser roles in the film include Kate Mulvany (former girlfriend of the late All Saints star Mark Priestley), Jacek Koman (husband of Catherine McClements), Arthur Dignam and Max Cullen.

Joel Edgerton Talks 'Gatsby'

15 August 2011

'Gatsby' to begin filming in 3 weeks

14 August 2011

The Great Gatsby: What it says to modern America

While we continue to wait for news of when filming of The Great Gatsby will actually begin, BBC News has reported the following insightful story about the impact this movie could have on today's society, particularly people living in America.

The Great Gatsby: What it says to modern America
10 August 2011, BBC News

A new film adaptation of The Great Gatsby, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, begins shooting in Australia in the coming weeks. As the US struggles with a sense of its own decline, is this story of thwarted ambition the perfect tale for modern America?

Eighty-six years after being published, The Great Gatsby is undergoing a revival. Hollywood stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan are preparing to fill the shoes - brogues and high heels, no doubt - of Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan, in a new adaptation directed by Baz Luhrmann. Filming is due to start in late August or early September, with a 2012 cinema release.

Gatsby-mania has been going on for months. A new spin-off novel that traces the fortunes of Daisy's daughter Pamela has not long arrived in bookshops. It follows the success of Gatz, a six-hour-long off-Broadway hit at the end of last year. And there was a musical appreciation provided by the Madison Symphony Orchestra performing The Gatsby Suite in Wisconsin.

As the US's first small steps out of recession appear to falter, with 9% unemployment, the lowest rate of home ownership for decades, a downgrading of its credit rating and a growing Chinese challenge to US global supremacy, this tale of frustrated ambition, lost love and death seems to strike a chord. Glittering with lyrical prose, F Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel tells the story of 1920s high society in Long Island, the golden age of excess before the Depression. Narrator Nick Carraway is caught up in the social whirl of parties, afternoon cocktails and fast cars. And in the midst is his neighbour, the mysterious Gatsby, whose efforts to recapture the heart of an old flame, Daisy, end in tragedy.

In one interview, Luhrmann said he wanted to hold up a mirror to his audience, but from another time because they would be more willing to accept it. So what is the message that modern readers and filmgoers must digest? "It does speak to contemporary America," says David Dowling, author of a students' guide, The Great Gatsby in the Classroom. "Especially that so-called American Dream, that stereotype that everyone can succeed if you try hard enough. That isn't always true and although Gatsby's heart is in the right place, the way he goes about achieving his dream brings about his downfall. Trying to buy that love shows the failed thinking of Gatsby and the shallowness of Daisy."

It's interesting to consider the novel in light of the financial crash of recent years, says Mr Dowling, who teaches 16 to 18-year-olds the novel at a school in Portland, Maine. Gatsby's mansion is the venue for riotous, all-night parties, filled with hedonists getting drunk on the host's money. Yet by the end of the story, the home is - like many foreclosed properties across the US today - empty and neglected. After the boom comes the bust, says Mr Dowling, and the book asks how much we want money to play a role in our lives and what is really important to us. "The novel asks that basic question. Hopefully reading it [today] can reshape the American Dream for this century."

It is telling that Nick closes the book by moving back to the Midwest, back to his roots, to a simpler life, says Mr Dowling. He turns his back on stockbroking and returns to his family, to the homespun values of yesteryear. But Fitzgerald is eager to point out the allure of Gatsby's dream as well as its flaws, says Lee Mitchell, professor of English at Princeton University in New Jersey. For all its faults, he says, the novel still celebrates his impulse. "What's wonderful about the novel, about Nick's fiction, is his ability to see not only the limitations of Gatsby's dream but the possibilities of it. It's a dream of starting over and making things over a second time. Who wouldn't want that? We don't need the Murdochs telling British Parliament that that's what they want, to realise it's a universal one."

The novel is not really about the end of the American Dream but the opening up of it, says Keith Gandal, a professor at City University of New York. In World War I, the US had allowed "ethnic Americans" like Gatsby, who is of German parentage, to become Army officers and this enabled him to climb the social ladder, although he is never accepted. This equality did not extend to black Americans, but it was a blip in history when the war opened up some opportunities beyond the Wasp elite, says Mr Gandal, before an institutional backlash. "Gatsby's failure to enter the highest class in social terms and move into that class isn't about money but the Wasp elite pushing back in the 1920s against ethnic Americans." Not only do they close ranks against outsiders like Gatsby but they destroy him and escape punishment for it, says Mr Gandal, which is a very modern theme. "Tom and Daisy just skip off and that resonates more than anything else. "There's a sense [today] that it's the super-rich on Wall Street who made this happen. I'm sure that resonates terrifically with middle-class Americans."

The debate about what the novel really means will continue for decades. But there are times when society reaches out to that hot summer in New York's Jazz Age, looking for ways to understand the present. As Fitzgerald's famous last line puts it: "So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."

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