OCTOBER 2003
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31 October 2003
Images: Farrell as Alexander
- Over the past week or so, movie sites across the web have been circulating two images of Colin Farrell as Alexander in Oliver Stone's upcoming film. The site on which I first discovered these images was Dark Horizons, and large versions of the two pics can be found here and here. DH reported:
"Alexander: After various on-set photos, Warners has at last released some official stills from Oliver Stone's biopic about the famous Macedonian conqueror. On display in them are the first looks at Elliott Cowan as the loyal General Ptolemy, Jared Leto as Alexander's childhood friend & lover Hephaistion, and a blond almost 80's daytime soap hair looking Colin Farrell as the young virile king. Filming is continuing in Morocco at present and will shortly move to London for in-studio work."
While this site is primarily dedicated to following the production of Luhrmann's ATG, I do occasionally post information about Stone's separate project and these pictures are definitely worth a look, if only for the purpose of comparison. I know that this production is much lower budget than Luhrmann's but, when I first saw these images, I have to be honest and admit I was not all that impressed. The costumes are not what I imagined them to be and Farrell's dyed blonde hair doesn't look right to me at all. Indeed, I tend to agree with DH's above description - "blond almost 80's daytime soap hair"!
Meanwhile, since my last update, news has continued to spread across the internet regarding the 'postponement' of Luhrmann's production of ATG by six months. Some sites have even gone so far as to say that this news marks the beginning of the demise of the production altogether. To them I say, enough with this unfounded speculation! It has been common knowledge for many months now that actual filming of ATG was never intended to begin until next year anyway, so I really don't see what the big fuss is about. Luhrmann has said himself he will not be rushed into this project, and fellow fans will be well aware that he always takes lots of time to fully research and comprehend exactly what he wants to achieve. As Stone's film is due out next November, the media is continuing to fuel speculation that there is competition between the projects and some sources seem to assume that Luhrmann may 'back out'. Well, all I can say is, I highly doubt this will be the case.
Nicole - the new face of Chanel
- While I reported rumours of this a while ago, I am happy to announce that this news has now been confirmed, along with news that filming of the advertisements will go ahead in December. Articles have been released all over the net during the last few days, but the following article from The Sun-Herald is one of the most detailed. It is entitled, 'Nicole swings $12m deal for Chanel No. 5' and was published on 27th October:
"Nicole Kidman will return to Australia in December to film a series of advertisements for iconic perfume brand Chanel No.5.
Chanel signed the actress as the face of its best-known fragrance on Friday in a deal reported to be worth $12 million.
Kidman will be reunited with Moulin Rouge filmmaker Baz Luhrmann for the campaign, which he will direct for the French luxury fashion and cosmetics house.
The advertisements will be screened and published next year.
Kidman joins an impressive list of Chanel faces, including Catherine Deneuve, Ali MacGraw and Candice Bergen.
Kidman's Australian publicist, Wendy Day, said the deal recognised the actor's growing status as a style-setter.
"It's a wonderful acknowledgement from Chanel and a great accolade for her," Ms Day told The Sun-Herald.
Ms Day could not confirm reports that Kidman was preparing to announce her engagement to American rocker Lenny Kravitz, with the London Daily Mail claiming the couple would inform close friends and family of their wedding plans at a party in New York in early December.
The newspaper said Kravitz intended to present Kidman with a Harry Winston solitaire diamond ring at the function, to be held at the members-only Soho House club in Manhattan.
While Kidman, who divorced Tom Cruise two years ago, and Kravitz have confirmed they are dating, Ms Day said she did not know how serious the relationship was.
Kidman has been based in New York for most of this year, filming Birth and the remake of The Stepford Wives, which is currently in production.
She is expected to combine the filming of the Chanel campaign in December with a holiday in Sydney to catch up with her friends and family.
Chanel No.5, which sex symbol Marilyn Monroe once said was the only thing she wore to bed, is the highest-selling fragrance in the world, with estimated retail sales of $143 million each year.
This is the first time No.5 has used a face better known than the product in its advertising.
One of the biggest trends in fashion and cosmetics this year is to opt for a celebrity endorsement instead of a model.
There have been rumours about the alliance between Kidman and Chanel since July. They were given fuel when Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld, never one to give a compliment lightly, proclaimed Kidman to be "the best of the best".
The Oscar-winning actress joins a list of Australian performers to have been signed up by international luxury brands.
Cate Blanchett has been signed as the face of fashion label Donna Karan and Natalie Imbruglia has a contract with beauty giant L'Oreal.
After filming the advertisements, Kidman will return to Australia later next year to work with Luhrmann again, this time on his blockbuster about Alexander the Great.
The project has been postponed for six months as Luhrmann, whose first child with wife and creative partner Catherine Martin was born earlier this month, is busy preparing to open his production of La Boheme in Los Angeles in January.
Kidman will play Alexander's mother, Olympias, a role being taken up by Angelina Jolie in Oliver Stone's rival project about the Macedonian king, titled
Alexander."
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21 October 2003
ATG production update
- The Sydney Morning Herald today published a small article regarding the latest progress of the production of Luhrmann's Alexander the Great. The snippet was an editorial labelled 'Spike' and reported the news under the title 'Alexander the wait'. This snippet can be found here (with thanks to Nicole Kidman United and the Spectacular Spectacular message board).
The snippet announces that filming of ATG has been postponed for six months. Furthermore, it states that "the Sydney crew being lined up to work on the movie were told of the delay last week, although no details have been given on when filming will start."
This snippet somewhat confused me, as it seems to imply that filming was meant to begin now, and I was under the impression that filming wasn't due to begin until next year anyway! Six months from now is April 2004, which is around the time when I expected production to begin. News that a Sydney crew has already been lined up doesn't really surprise me, as Luhrmann's production company is based in Sydney and work on digital effects is supposed to begin next month. I think that this is probably the work that has been postponed.
Luhrmann's spokesperson was quoted as saying, "Baz needs to go another round with the script of Alexander the Great - he wants to take the time to get it right. As well as recently becoming a father for the first time to Lillian Amanda Luhrmann and working towards opening La Boheme in LA in January, all in all Baz is currently a very busy period so he does not believe he can keep script development aligned with the current production schedule. This means that production on the ALX [Alexander the Great] project has been postponed for at least six months."
Baz at the ARIA Awards
- Last night, Baz Luhrmann was a presenter at the 17th Annual ARIA Music Awards in Australia. He appeared near the end of the night and presented two awards - Best Single (Delta Goodrem) and Best Album (Powderfinger). He was wearing a black suit and both Moulin Rouge and Lillian got a mention! :-) The Australian has reported an article focussing on the main winner of the night, Australian actress turned singer Delta Goodrem, with a mention of Baz's appearance at the end.
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16 October 2003
More baby news...
- Further to my previous news update, I can now announce further details about the birth of Lillian Amanda Luhrmann. Both Luhrmann and Martin are said to be ecstatic, and CM is doing just fine. In lieu of gifts and flowers, the couple have asked for donations to the Sydney Children's Hospital, Randwick.
Furthermore, it has also been announced that Lilly shares the same birth date as Eliza Jane Wenham, the daughter of fellow first-time parents, actors Kate Agnew and David Wenham. Wenham played Audrey in Moulin Rouge, but is probably more widely recognised for his role as Faramir in Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. News of both births were reported on 14th October in the Melbourne Herald Sun in an article called 'Big name bubs share birthday'. Congratulations to both happy couples! :-)
'The Mysterious Death of Alexander the Great'
- On 12th October, UK newspaper The Times Online reported a very long, very thought-provoking article revolving around the 'mysterious' death of Alexander the Great. The article, called 'Death of a Tyrant', looks at evidence and the many theories revolving around how Alexander truly died. The article is written in an entertaining style that holds your interest and makes you feel compelled to read on. It is certainly not written in the typical historical prose - for example, the article begins:
"Once upon a time there was a long-haired homosexual midget with a very bad temper. When he drank too much, which was often, he was prone to bouts of extreme and uncontrollable violence. His destiny, which he pursued with the zeal of a madman, was to rule the world. Given time, he was bound to come to the attention of the police..."
People living in the UK can tune in to The Mysterious Death of Alexander the Great... Revealed on Channel Five on Wednesday, 22nd October at 9pm. I saw this programme advertised on TV today, and I am very much looking forward to watching it.
I have now added the above article to my 'History of Alexander the Great' page. I have also fully updated my 'ATG News Articles' page, and I'm hoping to get to work on updating my 'ATG Development' page some time next week. The 'ATG Cast and Crew' page has also had some minor updates, and I have amended my 'Facts About Baz' page to include news of the latest arrival to the Luhrmann family! :-)
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13 October 2003
Congratulations Baz and CM!
Lillian "Lilly" Amanda Luhrmann, 3.35kg, born in Sydney on Friday, 10th October 2003!
- Special thanks to Margot in Australia for being the first to share with me this fantastic news! Catherine Martin was due to give birth this month, and I am happy to hear that she has now given birth to a lovely baby girl!
I must admit, I had expected the Australian press to pick up on the news in more detail than just a blurb in the newspaper... There has been absolutely no news reported online so far and, if it hadn't been for Margot, I wouldn't have found out myself! :-)
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9 October 2003
Bazmark back at Broken Hill!
- A few months ago, Baz Luhrmann and co. embarked on a much publicised visit to Broken Hill and surrounding areas to scout for possible locations for ATG. A meeting was held with the Australian Prime Minister, but no final decision was made as to whether or not Luhrmann would be shooting in Australia. All has been quiet for many weeks, but today ABC Online reported the following article called 'Broken Hill possible site for Luhrmann movie':
"A company looking for locations to shoot a new multi-million dollar movie has returned to Broken Hill for a second look.
Australian director Baz Luhrmann and Hollywood producer Dino De Laurentis have been scouring the world for months looking for a place to set their new epic film about Alexander the Great.
Earlier this year the pair visited Broken Hill to scout possible locations and late last week representatives from Mr Luhrmann's company, Bazmark Productions, returned to the outback city for another look.
Bazmark has refused to comment on the latest visit, but it is believed an engineer and a surveyor assessed sites at the city's north mine and at the nearby town of Silverton.
A final decision on where filming will take place is expected to be made later this year."
I have to admit I was very pleased to find this article, as this is very positive news for the Australian film industry. I was beginning to think that Australian negotiations may have fallen through but, with Bazmark back scouting last week, I'm thinking that filming might actually go ahead in the region after all. The article states that the final decision about filming locations will be made nearer the end of the year, so we'll have to wait a little longer to find out where exactly where ATG will film. As always, I will definitely be keeping an eye out for further developments!
Baz and CM to attend the Melbourne Cup?
- On 6th October, The Herald Sun reported in an article called 'Celebs the Cup Fancies' that Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin have been invited to attend the Melbourne Cup carnival next month, with CM tipped to judge the fashion on Oaks Day. There has been no confirmation that they will definitely attend, but anyone planning to attend the event should keep an eye out! :-) However, I must admit I find this news to be rather surprising, as CM is due to give birth some time this month to a baby girl!!
Photos of Colin Farrell as Alexander
- On 2nd October, The Z Review reported what they claim to be world exclusive pictures of Colin Farrell as Alexander in Oliver Stone's epic. The photos can be viewed here. Stone began production last month in Morocco, and these pictures depict Farrell practising his horse-riding skills. I assume he is merely rehearsing, as I cannot see Alexander riding around shirtless wearing only a modern-day hat, shorts and trainers! Jared Leto, who plays Hephaestion in Stone's film, is also featured in the photos. Now that filming has begun, I will continue following the production of Stone's movie on this site. However, I will only be reporting photos and any major developments for purposes of comparison for when Luhrmann begins filming his own ATG next year! :-)
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