dirt music Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Luckily for Tom Cruise, the latest rumors surrounding him have nothing to do with Valkyrie -- for once, there's some good news for the much-maligned movie star (a round of applause, please, if you will). Yesterday, Moviehole confirmed reports that Cruise is in talks to star as the US president in Philip Noyce's DC thriller, 28th Amendment -- and according to their sources, an official announcement will be made as soon as the paperwork has been completed.

Cruise would star opposite Denzel Washington as President Ben Cahill. Tom Cruise as President? Really? Plot follows the adventures of a commander-in-chief who learns that he has no real sway at the White House after uncovering a secret organization (run by Washington) that has been the 'power behind the throne' since WWII. Unfortunately for Cahill, this group has no qualms about bumping off presidents (grassy knoll, anyone?) and as he starts to put the pieces together, he becomes the next target -- which will probably give Cruise plenty of opportunities to show off that run of his.

In-between incensing comic book fans everywhere and the controversy over his being cast as the Joker; Heath Ledger has let one of his projects fall by the wayside. Ledger had been set to star in the film Dirt Music with Rachel Weisz, from Australian director Philip Noyce, but it looks like Ledger's commitment to Christopher Nolan and The Dark Knight is going to take priority.

Director Philip Noyce (Rabbit Proof Fence) has announced that Ledger is officially off the film adaptation of Tom Winton's novel of the same name. Noyce was pretty direct about he reason for the casting change "He's doing The Joker, instead". The story centers on an alcoholic mother and wife of the local bigwig of a fishing town who is drawn to a tortured widower. Despite Ledger dropping out from the project, Noyce is still planning on going ahead with the film with Weisz still attached. This isn't the first casting shake-up for Noyce, the first was the loss of Nicole Kidman, who had been originally attached to play Weisz's role. Noyce didn't give any hints as to who he had in mind to replace Ledger, but since Noyce's film has been in production for a while now, I'm sure recasting will begin as soon as possible.

[via JoBlo.com]

After the success of Rabbit-Proof Fence, Aussie director Phillip Noyce (who, in his non-indie moments, used to hang out with Jack Ryan) immediately went searching for another, Australia-based story to bring to the screen. He quickly settled on Dirt Music, a Booker Prize-nominated novel by Tim Winton, picked up the rights, and started the arduous task of signing stars who can both act and attract investors with the sparkly trail of Hollywood stardust they trail behind them. And, according to Variety this morning, Noyce's quest is almost at an end: He's got Rachel Weisz and Heath Ledger just inches away from signing on the dotted line.

Though Variety describes Winton's novel as being a two-character story, a look at Amazon reveals there are actually three people involved, which makes it hard to be sure exactly who Ledger is negotiating to play. The story takes place in "a remote fishing village in Western Australia," and was described by Publishers Weekly as "a tale of three characters' perilous journey into the Australian wilderness in efforts to escape and atone for their pasts." Oh good -- so it's uplifting. Weisz will play a former nurse who likes to both take risks and drink (a lot), while Ledger will be either the widowed lobster fisherman with whom she ends up living (in an arrangement that sounds more like roommates than romance) or a fish poacher in the village "who breaks the law to keep his mind from tragic memories." It's the latter character (his name is Luther, for the curious among you) who gives the story its name: His family (all of whom seem to be dead) once played country blues, AKA dirt music. Got all that?

Production on the film is entirely dependent upon Noyce's ability to track down financing, so it'll likely be quite a while before we get to see it.