At the moment we have to consider this a rumor, but can you imagine an Academy Award-winning psychotic oilman in a musical? Daniel Day-Lewis is in talks to replace Javier Bardem in Rob Marshall's film version of the musical Nine, according to Variety. As Monika Bartyzel told us a couple of weeks ago, Bardem dropped out of the lead role due to exhaustion. A spokesman for distributor The Weinstein Co. denied that a new lead had been set.

What an exciting prospect, though! Day-Lewis is famously selective about the roles he chooses, which means it's safe to assume that he was impressed by the elements that have been brought together. Those elements include: (1) script by Michael Tolkin, re-written by Anthony Minghella shortly before he died; (2) a fabulous cast of women, led by Nicole Kidman and Judi Dench (as Elisabeth Rappe reported recently), but also Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard and Sophia Loren; (3) director Rob Marshall. I know that Marshall isn't universally loved -- I'm not a fan of Chicago -- but presumably he has some kind of dazzling vision that inspires confidence among actors with hidden musical talents.

If he takes the part, Day-Lewis would play Guido Contini, "a famous film director who experiences personal and creative crisis while trying to balance all the women in his life." In the 1982 Broadway musical, inspired by Federico Fellini's 8 1/2, Raul Julia originated the role. I'm hoping for confirmation soon.

So Nicole Kidman might have already proven she can sing (a little), but is she really good enough to tackle the White Queen of Soul? Michael Cunningham, writer of The Hours and A Home at the End of the World, told NY Magazine that Kidman will star as singing legend Dusty Springfield in a music biopic that he is currently writing the screenplay for.

Springfield began her career at the tender age of 11, and by 1963 she had recorded her first major hit, I Only Want to Be With You. By 1967, the star had tired of show business and proceeded to record a string of flops from 1971 to 1986. Her comeback came in 1987 when The Pet Shop Boys asked her to sing on their hit What Have I Done to Deserve This? Springfield passed away from breast cancer in 1995 at the age of 60.

I will say it's about time that some more female vocalists got the biopic treatment (because Lady Sings the Blues and Coal Miner's Daughter are just not cutting it). Springfield had a tumultuous life full of addictions to drugs and alcohol, not to mention the pervasive stories of her struggles with her sexuality -- plenty of fodder for a juicy biopic. Considering working with Cunningham earned the actress her first Oscar, this project seems like a slam dunk for Kidman. Lord knows, she could use a hit.

They're still in talks, but everyone is reporting the deal as done, so I will too. Nicole Kidman and Judi Dench are joining Nine, Rob Marshall's film adaptation of the 1982 Broadway musical. The Hollywood Reporter says they'll be joining the already impressive cast of Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard and Sophia Loren.

Bardem will be playing the lead, a film director juggling the demands of several women in his life. The musical is an adaptation of Federico Fellini's autobiographical 8 1/2. Shooting was supposed to have begun in March, but due to the recent loss of Anthony Minghella, it has now been delayed to September. As Kidman is due to become a mother this summer, it would give her a nice maternity break.

Back when I first wrote about the planned Valerie Plame biopic, I said that I expected Nicole Kidman to be an immediate frontrunner to play Plame. And -- whaddya know -- today MTV Movies Blog found out the actress has, indeed, landed the part. Not only that, but they found out from the man directing the film -- none other than Doug Liman. Oh yes. It's on! Last March, Warner Bros. snagged the life rights for Plame and her husband Ambassador Joseph Wilson after "someone" outed Plame as a CIA agent following an op-ed piece in the New York Times her husband wrote in which he attacked the Bush administration. Hmmm ...

Liman admitted that Kidman was supposed to star in Mr. and Mrs. Smith as the latter, and that "we owe a movie together. That's an unrequited thing between me and an actor where I fell in love with them for a role and never get to consummate it." On how he plans to tell the highly-publicized story (remember "Scooter" Libby?), Liman said, "I have a really, really insane take on how to tell it. It's so outrageous. Ultimately, I'd be doing something no one has ever done before. Therefore it's automatically appealing to me. I'm just starting to explore whether [what I have in mind] is even possible to do." There's been no official announcement yet; last we heard the studio was jumping through some hoops in order to get this on the big screen, but it certainly appears as if it's moving along just fine. Doug Liman and Nicole Kidman? Next up, my prediction for Wilson is going to Richard Gere. What do you think about that pairing ... for this story?

Who among us hasn't wanted to get Nicole Kidman in a similar pose? But I digress. The February issue of Vanity Fair is boasting an exclusive photo and a jam-packed sidebar promoting the November release of Australia, but there's not a hell of a lot of new information here. Anyone who has been following the progress of the film since its filming began last year already knows the basics of the plot and characters, and that's mostly what gets re-hashed in the sidebar. Baz Luhrmann is quoted as saying that his ambition was to make a movie with "big emotions, big comedy, big stars, big stories and big landscapes." In a word, big. The sidebar then goes on to insult Kidman by declaring her character to be "a middle-aged (!) and childless British aristocrat." Come on now -- it may be true, but was that necessary?

This is one of the first Australia teases since a December 23 piece in the Herald Sun that detailed the conclusion of filming and talked up a sex scene between Kidman and co-star Hugh Jackman, for which Jackman helpfully reports that he "brushed his teeth five times" before commencing. Even though the big summer blockbusters are presumed to own the advertising airwaves over the next few months, Fox has so much money tied up in Australia that I would imagine you'll start seeing posters and teaser trailers -- and get more info on that rumored Elton John soundtrack -- over the next two months.

[via Australiamovie.net]

Great news everyone! Nicole Kidman has confirmed that she is, in fact, pregnant! At this time, we're not sure if she's registered at Babies "R" Us, but we'll be sure to let you know as soon as more information is available. However, the bad news is that because of her pregnancy, the actress has opted out of starring in The Reader (which is news we told you about yesterday). But it's okay -- c'mon, don't cry -- it's okay because Kate Winslet has come in to replace her. And when Winslet is your replacement, that's definitely not a step down. The Reader is based on the book by Bernhard Schlink and it apparently follows "a man who carried a longtime sexual obsession for an older woman who's later prosecuted for war crimes after it emerges she was a member of the SS and a guard at Auschwitz." Sexual obsessions, Auschwitz -- and it stars Kate Winslet. Sh*t. I'm there!

Winslet was apparently the first choice for the role, according to Variety, but she had to turn it down when scheduling became an issue. See, at the time she was shooting that Leo DiCaprio flick Revolutionary Road (which I'm really starting to confuse with last year's Reservation Road), and the two shooting schedules conflicted, so Kidman was brought on. But then The Reader had to shift things around to accommodate Kidman running late on Australia, so when Kidman dropped out, Winslet was free ... and there you have it. The Reader will most likely hit theaters later this year or next.

Quick: Name the last live-action film starring Nicole Kidman that absolutely rocked the box office? Okay, that's a tough one, I know, so how about the last live-action Nicole Kidman film that was any good? Hmm, that's also pretty tough. Fine, how about you just name the last live-action film that starred Nicole Kidman. That's pretty easy. The Golden Compass. It debuted last month. Yes, it's pretty clear that Kidman's appearance in a film is not all that it used to be, and fans aren't exactly flocking to the theater just because a film includes her name in the credits. Straight off filming the latest Baz Luhrmann epic, Australia, comes word from the sometimes-reliable Page Six that Kidman has dropped out of her next flick, The Reader, which was due to begin filming this month.

The reason? Well, they claim it's because the gal is pregnant, and she doesn't want to take on any work that could potentially harm her unborn child. Of course, Kidman, nor her reps, have confirmed that she is pregnant, and so I wouldn't go and take this news as official word. Page Six describes The Reader as being about "a man who carries a longtime sexual obsession for an older woman who's later prosecuted for war crimes after it emerges she was a member of the SS and a guard at Auschwitz." The film is based on Bernhard Schlink's book, and it co-stars Ralph Fiennes and Bruno Gatz. A rep for The Weinstein Co. said the "status on The Reader has not changed," so who knows what the real truth is.

As Page Six points out, perhaps now is a good time for Kidman to take a much-needed break. Her last three films, The Invasion ($15 million), Margot at the Wedding ($1.8 million) and The Golden Compass ($59 million) didn't exactly break any box office records, and so some time away to nurse that bun in the oven might be the appropriate move.

On the same day filming on Baz Luhrmann's Australia wrapped, the production released the first three official stills from the movie. Of course, clever photographers haven't been sitting around on their hands waiting for anything official -- they've been shooting candid photos all along, of everything from action shots of Nicole Kidman on horses and riding dinghies at sea to detailed photos of the set. But there's something to be said for photos that the director actually wants you to see. After looking at these three pictures, I can't say I'm discerning anything special though, except maybe for the one of Kidman seemingly about to twirl around while standing on a gazebo of some kind. It looks very 'Gone With the Wind' if you ask me. The other two are just a double headshot of the two leads and one gentleman who I'm going to guess is playing a native.

Meanwhile, perhaps sensing that The Golden Compass wasn't going to be all it was cracked up to be, Kidman was recently circumspect when talking to journalists about why she chooses her film roles. "I just choose off the cuff a lot of times, but primarily this was because Philip Pullman wrote me an amazing letter telling me that when he was writing the novels, he had me in mind," she said. "So that's hard to turn down. He's such a good novelist." Oh, so it's all his fault, huh? Let's hope she has a better answer for the studio bosses, next time they ask why they should continue forking over $15 mil per film.

A massive wrap party took place on Saturday night for Baz Luhrmann's romantic war epic Australia, which began its long filming schedule back in April and will finally wrap this coming Friday. The film tells the story of Lady Sarah Ashley's (Nicole Kidman) journey from England to the Australian outback to visit her husband's ranch, Faraway Downs. Once there, she meets a rough cattle driver played by Hugh Jackman and an ensuing love triangle situation ultimately culminates with the Japanese bombing of Darwin during the war. (I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that someone dies.) The film shoot is coming in around a month over schedule and also reportedly well over budget, The Herald Sun reports. There are also apparently still some interiors that will be shot during the coming year, but Jackman and Kidman both have new commitments that they must attend to first, he Wolverine and she that movie with Ralph Fiennes.

Also, several outlets are reporting that Luhrmann is courting Elton John to contribute to the movie's soundtrack. John is known to have visited the Australia set last week to watch some filming and while there, he was taken to a screening room to see an early assemblage of footage. When asked for comment, he reportedly declared that the film could be "like Titanic on dry land." John's visit to the set coincided with the filming of some kind of big ballroom sequence and Luhrmann arranged to have the band play one of John's old songs, as part of this musical seduction dance. Australia is currently scheduled to arrive in theaters in November, 2008.

At an admitted production cost of $250 million, which may not even include marketing, The Golden Compass needed a smashing domestic opening weekend just to allay fears that it would cause major long-term problems for a struggling New Line Cinema. Instead, it pulled in an alarmingly low $26 million this weekend at a whopping 3,500 theaters, much closer to Eragon's disasterous $23 million opening weekend last Christmas than the $65 million opening weekend for the first Chronicles of Narnia film or the routine $90 and $100 million openings for the Harry Potter films. (The lowest opening weekend for a Lord of the Rings film was $47 million.) With muted buzz at best, expect Golden's numbers to plummet next weekend, especially with a new crowd of pre-Christmas contenders packing in, and total domestic box office to top out at around $80 million. Ouch.

Over at Nikki Finke's blog, she's declaring Golden a "wildly expensive flop" and specifically citing a low per screen average, which is another indicator that this thing will have no legs and certainly won't do well enough to warrant those two sequels. In fact, coming on the heels of other huge disappointments for New Line like Shoot em Up (a $5 million opening weekend) and Rendition (a $4 million opening weekend) and Mr. Woodcock (an $8 million opening weekend), this will likely spell the end for New Line chairman Bob Shaye, who shareholders already want to dump because of his ridiculous feud with golden goose Peter Jackson.

If there's any saving grace for this boondoggle, it will be international box office, which is important for a film like The Golden Compass. Even though the film may need to pull in over $700 million internationally just to be in the black, the Guardian is reporting that first day grosses in British cinemas were very healthy. The film has already grossed $4.3 million in Britain, which is very substantial, and a good indicator of how it will fare across Europe.

Having never read the source material, but most definitely a serious fan of the fantasy genre, I walked into Chris Weitz's adaptation of Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass with a small sense of schizophrenia. As much as I enjoy epic adventures, daring escapes, dramatic battles and all that magical stuff, I'm well aware that every studio in Hollywood has tried to copy-cat the success of Harry Potter and the Lord of the Rings. Between Narnia, Eragon, Stardust, The Seeker, Beowulf, and a few others (with Inkheart and The Spiderwick Chronicles on the way!), it's tough to keep track of which ethereal realm needs the assistance of which plucky youths in order to thwart which decidedly nasty villain.

But it seems a little silly to complain, especially when you consider that the last time the "swords and sorcery" sub-genre had a revolution, it yielded movies like Legend, Labyrinth, Ladyhawke, Dragonslayer and Krull. (Yes, all of which I like.) Our latest entry into the family-friendly epic adventure category is, of course, The Golden Compass, which is based on a rather controversial fantasy novel that has the audacity to (gasp) criticize organized religion. But since pretty much all of the subtext has been drained out of this movie version, we can skip all that nonsense and cut right to the meat of the movie -- which is pretty damn fun, if you ask me.

The setting is a parallel universe in which people look a lot like we do ... only they all have personal "daemons" that hang nearby at all times. Not creepy Clive Barker-style demons, these are more like magical talking animals that share a soul with their respective 'masters' -- and the kids' daemons can morph into different animals at will. Cool! Our heroine is a precocious young tomboy called Lyra, and her adventure begins when she's whisked away from Jordan College by a mysterious lovely known as Mrs. Coulter. (It comes as little surprise to learn that Mrs. Coulter actually isn't that nice a lady, but let's not spoil things for those who haven't read the books.)

There should be two lists: Which actress makes the most and which actress deserves the most. The Hollywood Reporter released their annual list of the highest-paid actresses in Hollywood, and leading the pack is Reese Witherspoon, who commands a whopping $15 to $20 million per film. Since winning an Oscar for her performance in Walk the Line, Witherspoon has starred in Just Like Heaven, Penelope and Rendition -- all of which did poop at the box office (save for Penelope which never opened). Will she still be demanding this much next year? God, I hope not. Geez, friggin' Carrot Top entertains more people than this gal.

Number two on the list, of course, is Angelina Jolie (though she only earned $8 million for lending her voice and body to Beowulf). Next up are Cameron Diaz ($15 million per film), Nicole Kidman ($10-15 million), Renee Zellweger ($10-15 million), Sandra Bullock ($10-15 million) and Julia Roberts ($10-15 million). Drew Barrymore, Jodie Foster and Halle Berry round out the list with around $10 to $12 million each per film. Out of all those names, unfortunately, I believe Jolie was the only one to turn in a great performance this year in A Mighty Heart (we'll see if Kidman redeems herself in both Margot at the Wedding and The Golden Compass come awards time). The rest? Blah. So blah. Might as well take all their photos and slide them next to the word 'overrated' in the dictionary. So, in your opinion, who deserves the most? And feel free to list someone not mentioned here.

Imagine a villain who's like a female Darth Vader, only more evil, and she'll invoke the worst nightmares for children since the Child Catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. This is how Guardian critic Peter Bradshaw has described Nicole Kidman as Mrs. Coulter in his review of The Golden Compass (aka His Dark Materials: Northern Lights, as it's titled in the UK), which he's given a rating of four stars. As if that's not appealing enough, he also claims the character is Kidman's "juiciest" role since To Die For. According to Bradshaw, it seems Kidman is the main reason to see the movie. His only other highlight is the look of the movie's universe, which he calls "wonderful" and "Gilliamesque." He also points out how it's obvious the movie is aiming for association with Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter and The Chronicles of Narnia. Well, that isn't very surprising.

For a "four star" movie, The Golden Compass, according to Bradshaw, sounds like a mess plot-wise. Aside from looking nice, the movie's universe is apparently "crowded" and "alienating" and the audience is expected to get used to it as best it can, despite a lot of missing background material included in the book. Also, it's apparently more "absurd" than the source novel. Of course, confusing plots and universes aren't always a bad thing to audiences -- just look at the Pirates of the Caribbean series. What could be bad for the movie's box office is its violence; Bradshaw claims a significant polar bear battle could be too much for younger viewers. I have a good feeling that other critics will be less favorable considering the faults that this review seems to address, but of course even with terrible reviews, The Golden Compass could be a hit -- again, just look at the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.

Noah Baumbach's Margot at the Wedding did smashing business at two theaters in Manhattan, earning a per-screen average of $39,800, according to estimates compiled by Leonard Klady at Movie City News. Was it the sparkling dialog, the witty performances, the star wattage of Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Jack Black? The critics were mixed: our own Ryan Stewart opined that the film was "torpedoed by its own self-indulgence." A. O. Scott of the New York Times was kinder ("frequently brilliant, finally baffling") and Lou Lumenick of the New York Post was not ("I've had root canals that were more enjoyable"). Check Metacritic for more critical coverage.

Opening in a single Manhattan theater, What Would Jesus Buy? performed quite nicely according to Box Office Mojo, making $11,600. Personally, I thought Rob VanAlkemade's documentary was timely and entertaining, although quite scatter-shot in its approach.

Opening in a single Los Angeles theater, Smiley Face earned an estimated $5,700 over the weekend, according to Mr. Klady. Distributor First Look has been criticized for changing their plans from a wider release last April; filmmaker Sujewa Ekanayake comments: "It is sad to see a film that screened at 4 incredibly well known festivals [Sundance, SXSW, Cannes, Toronto] being released in only 1 theater." Amen! Both Jette Kernion and Monika Bartyzel reacted positively to Gregg Araki's stoner comedy starring Anna Faris; the movie hits DVD in January.

Redacted ($1,760 per screen; 13 theaters) and Southland Tales ($1,780 per screen; 63 theaters) appeared to fall victim to bad buzz. Everyone kept saying that no one would want to go see Brian DePalma's Iraq War project and it became a self-fulfilling prophecy. Critical response was lukewarm overall, though a number championed it, according to Rotten Tomatoes. (Ryan Stewart felt it "doesn't ever truly gel.") The same site estimated that only 34% of the Southland Tales reviews were positive; its champions are fewer but no less appreciative -- but not Nick Schager, who called it "monumentally vapid."

The Coen Brothers' No Country for Old Men expanded into 148 theaters and soared into the overall Top 10, scoring a scorching per-theater average of $20,540.