Baz (Temporarily) Denied
Filed under: Drama, Romance, RumorMonger, 20th Century Fox, Newsstand
From the sound of things, 20th Century Fox is getting cold
feet about Baz
Luhrmann's mysterious epic, period, Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe-starring romance, and as a result the film is very unlikely to begin by its
original summer start date. According to The Australian, Fox is wary about
footing the film's budget (rumored to be about $175 million), "until it is confident that the huge investment will
pay off." What's this? Rationality from a studio? Go Fox! Because the studio is unwilling to sign off on the film under current conditions, members of the crew have actually been sent home (Luhrmann is in the middle of preparations for shooting, which he believe must begin by August in order to beat the rainy season); if a surprise greenlight doesn't come soon, it's a distinct possibility that the film won't go into production until next year, depending on the schedules of its stars.
Man, this is already sounding like one of those legendary dream projects that ends up stretching on for years and years through crisis after crisis. And I have to admit that I'm sort of hoping that's what happens - you know Luhrmann will get it done eventually, and the drama'll be even better if the movie turns out to be great. Man, if only Elizabeth Taylor was his star - then the setup would be perfect!
[via Coming Soon]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-02-2006 @ 5:04PM
Evan T. Burchfield said...
Baz could save himself some money by deciding what he wants to film before filming it. The Baz Luhrmann and Peter Jackson improvisational mosaic shooting style only costs more money and leaves bad deleted scenes on DVDs. Why not decide how your movie's going to look beforehand? Alfred Hitchcock, Sidney Lumet, and Wes Anderson have all set excellent examples of the Art of Planning. The only director who has really succeeded at overfilming is Paul Greengrass, and his movies are more potent and frenetic by design. A romantic epic, or freaking Tolkien, just doesn't work like that.
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4-03-2006 @ 1:48PM
Emma Watson said...
(Luhrmann is in the middle of preparations for shooting, which he believe must begin by August in order to beat the rainy season);
That's the real reason for the delay. Fox ok'd the budget which is less than you stated. But Baz couldn't ready the production to go in July, and after that is the rainy season which means any delay will have to be a delay until next year. He's been working on some script revisions, plus, the enormous technical aspects of such a production which is supposed to include a recreation of the bombing of Darwin and a large cattle drive. I would hope he's not in over his head on such a large-scale film. I would hope the Aussie film industry isn't in over their heads on such an large-scale film. They (the techies) are only used to working on tiny, low-budget indie films.
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