FEBRUARY 2005
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28th February 2005
Australian ATG article
- A couple of days after the news was first released, Australian newspapers published the below article, distributed by news.com.au. The article basically gives us the same information as the original Screen Daily article. However, there are are two additional pieces of information that are worth commenting on, which I will do beneath the following transcript:
Alex to rise again
By Lawrie Zion and Sophie Tedmanson
February 24, 2005
"DIRECTOR Baz Luhrmann may get to make his version of Alexander the Great after all.
Following persistent speculation about the possible demise of the project, Italian producer Dino De Laurentiis announced yesterday that the $US150 million ($190 million) film was now likely to get the go-ahead.
De Laurentiis's new plan, according to a report in Italy's Il Corriere della Sera, is to shoot Alexander the Great in a year's time, with Leonardo DiCaprio and Nicole Kidman as Alexander and his mother Olympia.
"It will be the Alexander that everyone has been waiting for," he said. However, his claim that the film was back on track was news to Kidman.
"I don't know anything about it. We haven't spoken recently," she said yesterday.
Kidman and DiCaprio were first associated with the film two years ago. Filming had been due to begin last April in Morocco but was postponed.
Meanwhile, Oliver Stone was making his own version of the Alexander story.
Starring Colin Farrell and Angelina Jolie, that film flopped when it was released in the US in November.
"I don't want to hit out against Oliver Stone, who merits respect. But his picture was certainly flawed, and was missing the spine of a screenplay," De Laurentiis, whose credits include Hannibal, said.
Although reports last July suggested Luhrmann's project had been "temporarily suspended" so he could spend more time with his family, the Australian director has never said he has abandoned the project.
He was unavailable for comment yesterday.
De Laurentiis did not say where a remounted Alexander the Great would be shot.
In 2003 Luhrmann said the production had been moved from Morocco because of potential terrorist threats, adding he had always wanted to shoot it in Australia.
Several Australian locations, including Broken Hill, had been considered by Luhrmann and De Laurentiis, who visited the western New South Wales mining town in June 2003."
Firstly, we are provided with a direct
quote from Kidman stating, "I don't know anything about it. We haven't spoken
recently." In late 2004, it was implied by the media that both Kidman and
DiCaprio had not been kept up to date with the project and, indeed, had not
spoken with Luhrmann or anyone else associated with the film for quite some
time. Therefore, Kidman's comments do no surprise me. A rather lengthy period of
time has passed since Kidman and DiCaprio were approached and, with ATG lying
low for so long, both have obviously moved on to other projects. Would they
choose to come back on board? We can only wait and see. I do think it's a bit premature to expect them to automatically say yes, but we can hope so, anyway!
Secondly, the article states that Luhrmann was 'unavailable for comment'. I did
find it a bit strange that Luhrmann was not involved with the reports that ATG
is still on. But then, Luhrmann has never said anything to the contrary ie. that he's not making
it! I would have thought, however, that statements regarding the future of ATG
would have been somehow joint between the director and the producer. However,
while Luhrmann has kept quiet, De Laurentiis has gone and re-announced the project to the world! This may put some pressure on
Luhrmann, especially if he was perhaps planning to do something else first? Or
maybe this was the plan all along! I guess we can only wait for further news to
be released. :-)
'Duck, Duck, Goose!'
- Last week, I noticed a new entry had appeared on Baz Luhrmann's IMDb page. Luhrmann has been accredited with 'special thanks' for a project called Duck, Duck, Goose! It is a short film due for an early 2005 release in the US. Curious, I checked out the official site to find out more. I then went ahead and wrote an e-mail to D.C. Douglas - writer, director, editor and star of the film - to find out what Luhrmann's involvement was, and received the following reply:
"Hi Vanessa,
Thanks for the nice email.
Great website. Very thorough.
Baz was the inspiration for the short film a la France, comedic style, animations etc etc. It's customary that low budget productions thank their muses! We've sent him a copy and are waiting/hoping to get a quote for our website. Fingers crossed.
We haven't submitted to any foreign festivals yet, but when we do, I'll drop you a line.
Thanks!
DC"
Although I obviously haven't seen the film, it sounds like a lot of fun. Fingers crossed DC receives a response from the Luhrmann camp! :-)
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22nd February 2005
Alexander the Great still on!
- It's the news we've been waiting for! :-) Finally, after many weeks of waiting, there has been confirmation that Luhrmann's ATG will still go ahead. Despite all the consistent rumours to the contrary, producer Dino De Laurentiis has now confirmed that the project is still moving forward. This information was first reported in the Italian newspaper, Il Corriere della Sera, and the news has today been reported online on Ain't It Cool, Guardian Unlimited and Coming Soon, among others. All articles are similar and quote from the same newspaper source. The original transcript is apparently on Screen Daily, but, unfortunately, this site can only be accessed by paying subscribers. Therefore, the following transcript comes from Coming Soon:
De Laurentiis Says Alexander Still a Go
February 22, 2005
"According to Italy's Il Corriere della Sera (via Screen Daily), producer Dino De Laurentiis has re-assured that he is moving forward with plans to film his Alexander the Great project, to be directed by Baz Luhrmann (Moulin Rouge) and to star Leonardo DiCaprio and Nicole Kidman.
"We will shoot the film in one year's time, and it will be the Alexander that everyone has been waiting for," De Laurentiis said, confirming the talent that was attached to the project when it was announced in 2003.
De Laurentiis's film was put on hold when Oliver Stone's rival Alexander project started in 2004. "I don't want to hit out against Oliver Stone, who merits respect. But his picture was certainly flawed, and was missing the spine of a screenplay," the Italian producer told the Milan newspaper.
He added that "epic films are difficult to do well. King Arthur was also flawed. It badly copied ideas from the third film in my schedule, which is based on Valerio Massimo Manfredi's novel, 'The Last Legion'."
The Last Legion is set during the fall of the Roman empire and tells the true story of a group of legionaries who go to Britain to save the young emperor of Rome who has been kidnapped by barbarians. De Laurentiis said that Carlo Carlei is no longer attached to direct that project and a new director has not been announced."
According to the above, Luhrmann is still set to direct the Alexander the Great project. De Laurentiis goes one step further by 'confirming the talent that was attached to the project when it was announced in 2003.' This implies that Leonardo DiCaprio and Nicole Kidman are still set to be involved.
De Laurentiis states that there are plans to shoot the film in a year's time. This would make sense, as I do believe some time will need to pass between this project and Stone's Alexander for it to have a chance of success. De Laurentiis' comments regarding Stone's film are self explanatory. I agree that Stone's movie was flawed, and I also agree that the screenplay was not up to scratch. I can't really comment about De Laurentiis' opinions of King Arthur though! As for The Last Legion, this is a project that was mentioned back in 2002 when De Laurentiis and Luhrmann were scouting locations for ATG in Morocco. However, it appears that Luhrmann is not set to direct this project and it will be a separate project for De Laurentiis.
This latest news looks promising, and it would explain why news regarding ATG has been so quiet lately. As I suspected, they were waiting to see the reaction to Stone's Alexander before making a decision, and it seems De Laurentiis has now made this decision. I hope there will be further news to report soon! :-)
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7th February 2005
ATG deleted from IMDb
- After many months of uncertainty regarding the future of Luhrmann's Alexander the Great, the Internet Movie Database has now deleted all traces of the project from its website. For some time, the IMDb listed the film as the 'Untitled Alexander the Great Project'. The film had its own page and was also listed on the Baz Luhrmann page. But now, all of a sudden, the project has been removed entirely.
News about ATG has been scarce for some time now, although I am yet to find any news confirming that Luhrmann has definitely pulled the plug on his film. Perhaps the IMDb has heard otherwise? Or perhaps it has merely assumed the project will not go ahead and simply got tired of waiting? Whatever the case, the IMDb calls itself 'Earth's biggest movie database' and, if a movie is not listed on its website, this is obviously not good news.
I had thought that Luhrmann would speak out after the release of Stone's Alexander to confirm, once and for all, whether or not he would be going ahead with his movie. This has not yet happened, and I can't help but increasingly wonder what Luhrmann and co. are planning to do next.
I was hoping that perhaps Luhrmann's official website, Bazmark, would shed some light on the situation. However, despite being updated in October 2004, there have been no further updates. The website acknowledges his major works, but there is absolutely no information regarding ATG. It also does not mention Luhrmann's involvement with My Shakespeare. The links for his other projects provide very little information, with the Something For Everybody link being broken altogether. I think it is a shame that the official site is not used to its full potential. I just find it somewhat discouraging to think of the number of people who visit the official site hoping to learn more about Luhrmann and his company's productions only to come across very limited information. I do hope that more updates are planned soon, and that Luhrmann and co. become involved in even more wonderful projects during 2005. :-)
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