It was a bummer to learn that Franka Potente was backing out of Pope Joan back in May, but it looks like she's found herself another weighty gig to add to her plate. Variety reports that she has signed on to star in a new German drama called Flucht aus Tibet, otherwise known as Escape from Tibet. The film, which is based on a true story, will be the big-screen debut for writer and director Maria Blumencron.

Heading out of Che Guevara territory, Potente is moving over to Tibet to play Judy Cronenberg. The woman was a press photographer who led "a group of refugee Tibetan children over the Himalayas to safety nine years ago." There's nothing more being said about the story, which seems to be surprisingly free from the Internet (anyone know the details?), but it is a big German project. The film has received FFF Bayern's largest film funding -- $1.1 million.

It should be a little bit of time before we get to see Tibet, but in the meantime, of course, we can watch her play Tania in Steven Soderbergh's The Argentine and Guerilla.

Next time Terry Gilliam gets down about his bad luck, he should talk to Constantin Film about Pope Joan. In October of 2006, Franka Potente signed on. In April 2007, John Goodman got sued for backing out of the feature. That made production stop. Then director Volker Schlöndorff was fired over comments he made to a paper. Last we heard, there was a new director, Sönke Wortmann, but that was last August.

And I just had to go and say: "How funny would it be if she could no longer do it? Also disappointing, since I'd love to see her really command a period piece." The Hollywood Reporter posts that due to scheduling conflicts from the rampant delays, Franka is out and German actress Johanna Wokalek is in as Pope Joan. That news just, well, sucks. It would've been a great opportunity for Franka, and Wokalek isn't well-known stateside, which could affect the production further.

But here's where things get weird. It seems that although he was sued and left eons ago, "Constantin said Wednesday that it remains in talks with Goodman and that the actor could still join the cast." That would certainly help foreign cred, but is he really still around? Is this just due to the lawsuit? The whole production just seems like a mess.

Should I even bother saying that principle photography is now set for August, with the film's release set for 2009? Will this come to fruition, or are more problems on the way?

This week, there are a few solid DVD choices that are already floating around the Cinematicalverse. You can check out Erik's review of the Cloverfield DVD, my review of the Charlie Wilson's War disc, or Peter's indie picks, which includes the somber but enjoyable Starting Out in the Evening. However, there's one release that hasn't been discussed yet:

Romulus, My Father
When the film got its limited release in February, it came and went without a bang -- pulling in less than $3,000 (according to IMDb), even though it hit a few million in the Australian box office. But with the names and performances behind it, this film, based on Raimond Gaita's memoir, deserves another look.

Eric Bana stars as Romulus, balancing out the truly disappointing Lucky You, and proving that there's more to the actor than his less-loved one-two punch of Hulk and Troy. There's Franka Potente as his wife, Christina -- a role which allows her to be more than Bourne's fallen paramour, or an energetic, red-haired Lola. And rounding out the small family is Kodi Smit-McPhee, who plays Raimond. While he's under the radar now, that will surely change once he gets in front of mainstream audiences with The Road. (There's some solid acting chops in that kid.) But there's also actor Richard Roxburgh (The Duke in Moulin Rouge) making his directorial debut.

The Australian Film Institute Awards -- the Aussie Oscars -- have been announced, and it looks like a majority of the the big winners came from the same two films. I guess it's a pretty open race over there in a year without a new Crocodile Dundee film. But seriously folks, I kid the Australian people! I kid because I love. The big acting winners were Eric Bana (Hulk, Troy, Munich) and Joan Chen (Twin Peaks, Lust, Caution). Bana won for his role in Richard Roxburgh's Romulus, My Father -- which was also named Best Picture of the Year. Romulus co-stars Run Lola Run's Franka Potente and tells the story of "a post World War Two migrant family dealing with isolation in Australia and a mother struggling with mental illness." Oooo, sounds like a fun one! You can read Monika's not-too-impressed review of Romulus here.

Chen won Best Actress for The Home Song Stories, in which she plays "a glamorous Shanghai nightclub singer who struggles to survive in 1970s Australia with her two young children." Sheesh! I guess the depressing films get the same praise Down Under that they do here in the states. Get the family together, pop some popcorn, and have a little double feature with these two good timey Saturday night flicks! The Home Song Stories also won awards for: Best Direction (Tony Ayres), Best Screenplay (Ayres again), Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Costume Design, Best Original Music Score, and Best Production Design. How exactly did it miss Best Picture?

The big screen is about to get a taste of (more) war and dysfunction:

• In the wake of guns, redaction, and other war films, we're about to get a taste of some military scrubs. The Hollywood Reporter has announced that Oscar winner Terry Sanders' latest documentary, Fighting for Life, has been picked up by Truly Indie for a US theatrical release. The doc focuses on three interweaving stories -- the doctors/nurses/medics who work in Iraq, wounded fighters, and USU med students aiming to become military doctors. Sanders has been at this for eons -- he won his first Oscar in 1955 for the short A Time Out of War. If experience is any indication, this should be a notable film to check out. Truly Indie will get the documentary in theaters this March.
• During TIFF, I got to see and review Richard Roxburgh's feature directorial debut, Romulus, My Father -- a slow, albeit decent family drama. The film is based on the memoir by writer Raimond Gaita, and covers his young life as his dedicated father (Eric Bana) struggles to be a good father to him while his mother (Franka Potente) does all she can to flee from the responsibility of motherly duty. Now Variety reports that Magnolia Pictures has nabbed distribution rights to the Australian drama. Prexy Eamonn Bowles says: "Eric Bana is a great actor, and this was a great performance from him; I think people will respond to it very strongly." While the film will hit the big screen at some point, it seems, Magnolia is planning to first release it to lucky HDNet Ultra VOD subscribers first.

Simple and understated, Romulus, My Father begins with Romulus Gaita (Eric Bana) and his son, Raimond (Kodi Smit-McPhee). A light bulb sways in the black of night, and the father attempts to teach his son about life. He is holding a handful of still and lifeless wasps. As the warmth of the light passes over them, they stir, and he brings the insects back to life in front of the amazed eyes of Raimond. The lesson is simple: with warmth, life will thrive. It is an ideal that the elder Gaita models his life upon, and while it continues to fail him in his own life, he is fueled by Raimond taking the lesson to heart.

Coming from Raimond Gaita's noted memoir, Romulus, My Father follows the writer's young life in 1960's Australia. His family has emigrated from Eastern Europe, and now find their life divided. Father and son live alone in the country, receiving only sporadic visits from unreliable wife and mother Christina (Franka Potente). Romulus allows this because he loves Christina, and believes that she needs him. Raimond is an ideal kid, one who remains optimistic and loving in the shadow of his mother's absence. It is, however, an optimism that is continually challenged as his father is beaten by the hardships that life hurls at him time and time again.

One might see a bunch of huge snags as a good reason to re-think the making of a film, but not Constantin Films -- and let's hope that's because they've got a real keeper. Back in April, John Goodman was sued for backing out of the production of Pope Joan. Soon after, production was halted. As if that wasn't enough, July brought about the firing of the film's director -- Volker Schlöndorff. He had criticized the company's habit of making extended versions of their films for television (they plan to do just that with Joan). Undeterred, Variety has reported that Constantin Film has selected The Miracle of Bern and Deutschland. A Summer Fairytale helmer Sönke Wortmann to take over the directorial chair.

With the director in place, they're now hoping to get production going early next year, with Franka Potente still tapped to star. (How funny would it be if she could no longer do it? Also disappointing, since I'd love to see her really command a period piece.) The film is an adaptation of Donna Woolfolk Cross' bestseller Pope Joan, which tells the legend of a ninth-century woman who disguised herself as a man and ascended the papal throne -- but was later found out when she had a baby during a procession from St. Peter's. Oops. I have to say -- having the sex when you're not only the Pope, but a female one at that, is pretty risky. Assuming the production hits no more snags, we should be able to see it for ourselves in a year or two.

It is now anybody's guess when Pope Joan will go into production. You may remember that the adaptation of Donna Cross's novel hit a snag back in April because John Goodman abruptly departed the film. He was subsequently sued, and production of the film, which was supposed to start shooting in May, was put on hold. Now, the film has also lost its director, Volker Schlöndorff (The Tin Drum), who has been fired. Constantin Films gave Schlöndorff the pink slip following the filmmaker's remarks to a newspaper about his problems with Constantin's practice of simultaneously making extended versions of its films for play on television (ooh, does that mean there's a longer cut of Perfume: The Story of a Murderer out there for my enjoyment?). I'm not sure what his stated problems were, whether he feels the practice makes audiences more patient to wait for films to hit their TV sets or if he simply has a problem with his work being out of his control and released in a cut that isn't his own.

The film will (eventually) star Franka Potente (The Bourne Identity) as the title character, a woman who pretends she's a man and manages to become Pope for two years in the 9th century. Although this film is based on a recent novel, Pope Joan is a legendary figure in history, and may have actually existed. She was previously portrayed by Liv Ullman in a 1972 film from director Michael Anderson. It should be a monumental role for Potente, who follows such Oscar-winning, cross-dressing actresses as Hilary Swank, Gwyneth Paltrow and Linda Hunt (plus cross-dressing/cross-gendering nominees Felicity Huffman, Julie Andrews and Ingrid Bergman). Pope Joan had been re-set to begin shooting in six weeks (they must have finally replaced Goodman), but it will probably be delayed again while Constantin searches for a new director. Meanwhile, Schlöndorff will just have to look forward to screening his latest, Ulzhan, at Toronto this fall.

Maybe it was the lure of appearing alongside Susan Sarandon in Speed Racer that landed actor John Goodman in some legal troubles. Variety reports that German film company Constantin Film have filed a $3 million lawsuit against the actor over his failure to commit to the film version of the medieval legend of Pope Joan. The film has already cast Franka Potente as the lead in the story of a woman who managed to hide the fact she was female long enough to become Pope sometime in the 850's. Supposedly, she was found out when she gave birth during a procession from St. Peter's -- now that must have been an awkward walk home.

According to Constantin Film's lawsuit, Goodman had made a verbal agreement to play Pope Serguis. Goodman's legal representation has dismissed the lawsuit as "frivolous," and that even though Goodman had entered talks over the project, he added that "no agreement had ever been reached." According to the suit, Goodman's reps had contacted the filmmakers in March, but I guess it was not enough time since Constantin is suing for what they say are "significant sums" as a result of the delays of recasting. Constantin claims that Goodman had agreed to accept $500,000 for his role in the film, it makes you wonder what the Wachowski Brothers were offering.

Of all the actors who are regularly mentioned on Cinematical, Johnny Depp certainly seems to be the most popular. So, I am glad to be able to give the readers another update on Depp's passion project, Shantaram, which has just acquired a new director. Indian auteur Mira Nair has signed on to the film, which is based on Gregory David Roberts' mostly autobiographical novel. Shooting is now slated to begin later this year, once Depp is done with Sweeney Todd.

It has been awhile since we last heard about this film -- its formerly attached director, Peter Weir, dropped out last summer. But there were probably few worries that Depp would run out of projects to work on. Aside from Sweeney, he's also slated for The Rum Diary and maybe Rex Mundi. Plus, his production company has a number of adaptations he could star in. Still, Shantaram is the film that Depp paid $2 million for rights to, so he was probably most interested in getting it off and running again.