This just in to Cinematical headquarters: The Weinstein Co. announced that Kate Hudson has joined Rob Marshall's adaptation of the famed musical, Nine. Hudson will co-star alongside Daniel Day-Lewis, Nicole Kidman, Judi Dench, Sophia Loren, Penélope Cruz and Marion Cotillard -- and if that beautiful cast doesn't get asses in seats, I don't know what will. Day-Lewis will play director Guido Contini who, while preparing for his latest picture, has trouble balancing the many women in his life.

Personally, I've been waiting for Hudson to take a little departure from starring in cheesy rom-coms for awhile now, though I'm sure some of you would be happy if she disappeared forever at this point. That said, I still remain a Hudson supporter (damn you Almost Famous!), and I know she's got some good stuff holed up in places we just haven't been fortunate to discover yet. What do you think? A step up for Hudson, or a step down?

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.

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.

According to the New York Daily News, Catherine Zeta-Jones will no longer co-star in Nine, the film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical, which itself was an adaptation of Fellini's classic film 8 1/2. Zeta-Jones would have played the role of Claudia, "the alluring muse of skirt-chasing director Guido Contini." The reason for the falling out is allegedly -- it's always allegedly with the Daily News -- because director Rob Marshall (the inexplicably Best Picture-winning Chicago) "wouldn't give in to her demand to beef up her role." The script is adapted by Michael Tolkin (The Player), and apparently the creative team wasn't willing to change the story around. A friend of Zeta-Jones told the Daily News "She was never 100% committed to Nine. She had a meeting with Rob. She'd love to work with him again. But she felt she'd done the same sort of role in Chicago. The script wasn't an issue."

Marshall has moved on and is looking for a younger actress to hop in and play Claudia. The list of possibles includes Natalie Portman, Liv Tyler, Keira Knightley, Kate Hudson, and Gwyneth Paltrow. (In what world is Gwyneth Paltrow a reasonable substitute for Zeta-Jones?) The cast of Nine, one of the more attractive bunches of actors in recent memory, features Javier Bardem as Guido, Sophia Loren as Guido's mother, Penelope Cruz as his mistress Carla, and Marion Cotillard as Luisa Contini. Reportedly (another word for "allegedly"), Katie Holmes was "heartbroken" when Marshall turned her down for a role. Who would you guys like to see in the part? We'll keep you posted on how this drama turns out.

Additionally, Variety has announced today that the Weinstein Co. has officially delayed production on Nine due to the script not being ready.

Variety is reporting that director/choreographer Rob Marshall and uber-producer Harvey Weinstein have started putting together a cast for Nine, a film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical. Javier Bardem was just offered the role of director Guido Contini, who "experiences a creative and personal crisis as he tries to balance all the women in his life." The musical was inspired by Federico Fellini's classic 8 1/2, and the Contini role was originated onstage by the great Raul Julia. In its recent Broadway revival, Contini was played by Antonio Banderas. I love Bardem, but I have to wonder why Banderas isn't reprising his role here. He played the part in 2003 and he still looks like a million bucks, so the reason can't be that he's gotten too old. Curious.

Regardless, the real appeal of this film is going to be its women. If Marshall gets his first choices, this will be one beautiful cast. Marion Cotillard (Russell Crowe's love interest in A Good Year) is set to play Contini's wife. Penelope Cruz, whom I never thought too highly of until her terrific work in Volver, is in talks to play Contini's mistress, Carla. Marshall hopes to sign his Chicago co-star Catherine Zeta-Jones to play "the director's muse." Zeta-Jones isn't signed yet, but judging by what she told MTV's Movie Blog last month, she's a done deal. Said Jones, "I'd read the phone book with Rob Marshall. To put a musical in a director's hands, for me it can only be [him]." Marshall is also trying to get Sophia Loren, one of the sexiest women of all time, on board to play Contini's mother, who comes to Contini as a ghost. Michael Tolkin, best known for adapting his novel The Player for Robert Altman, is adapting the script. I'm no fan of Marshall, I thought Chicago was insanely overrated, and Mem-Snores of a Geisha was agony to sit through. Still, I dig musicals and it'd be great to see all of these gorgeous women on the big screen at once.

Director Rob Marshall is returning to movie musicals -- he directed the Oscar-winning Chicago, then was less successful with Memoirs of a Geisha. His new project, Nine, is (like Chicago) an adaptation of a Broadway musical, but the stage production of Nine is itself a reworking of the Federico Fellini film 8 1/2. The Weinstein Company has just announced the writer who will adapt Nine for the big screen: Michael Tolkin, whose script credits include Changing Lanes, Deep Impact and Gleaming the Cube. However, Tolkin is probably best known for his novel The Player, which he also adapted into a movie, and followed up with a sequel book last year, The Return of the Player.

I had never heard of the musical Nine before, which was originally staged on Broadway in 1982 starring Raul Julia (sigh ... I miss him) and won several Tony awards. The New York Public Library site has a very revealing photo of Anita Morris from the production. Like the Fellini movie, Nine is about a film director (not at all like Fellini) who is blocked on his current project and finds help by fantasizing about the women from his past. A 2003 revival starred Antonio Banderas. No news yet on casting -- I'm wondering if Banderas is still considered a viable option for the lead in the movie. I like him even in dumb movies like Take the Lead, and it would be delightful to see him in a musical like this one. The Weinstein Company says that the casting choices will influence whether the movie is released at the end of 2008 or later, and I am sure that with Marshall at the helm, they are thinking "Oscar season."

It looks like we're getting another big-budget musical from the Weinsteins -- probably not a bad idea, since the last one they made won six Oscars. Variety recently reported that Rob Marshall has signed to direct the film version of the Tony Award winning musical Nine. The musical debuted in 1982 with Raul Julia and beat out Dreamgirls that year for Best Musical. In 2002, Antonio Banderas took on the lead and *won a Tony for Best Male Performance. The story was inspired Federico Fellini's 8½, and centers on an aging director suffering from his romantic entanglements and a creative dry spell. This is the first project for Marshall with the Weinsteins since Chicago, and he was eager for another film after Memoirs of a Geisha, saying, "I began looking intensely at (other projects), including remakes of movies, originals and Broadway musicals." Marshall will also help with the choreography for the film along with John DeLuca.

The project is still looking for a screenwriter, and casting has yet to begin -- there is no word on whether Banderas will return. Marshall warned that "This one needs to be created specifically for the talent involved, to suit their strengths, casting will be a big issue here, and if commitments complicate things, it will be 2009." We're not quite sure what that means since any movie that he started prepping now wouldn't likely arrive in theaters until 2009 anyway, but I'm sure the Weinsteins won't mind waiting, since it seems that their reputation at the box-office could use a little help.

*Correction: Banderas was nominated but the award went to Harvey Fierstein.

On Wednesday, Martha let you in on a rumor circulating around about a possible new film version of Gypsy film from The Weinstein Company, which would star Catherine-Zeta Jones. Well, it turns out that Gossip Queen Liz Smith was talking about the Weinstein conception of the film ... which is but a dream of Harvey Weinstein's, nothing more. After the Post published her "announcement", Smith received a phone call from Arthur Laurents, who wrote the book for the musical, and he stated that Weinstein, "doesn't own the rights." In her column Friday, Smith made the correction, while still stating that, "I didn't say he had the rights. Just that he has a dream of producing a Gypsy movie, with Rob Marshall at the helm. And he does have such a dream."

Well, conveniently for Smith, I can't seem to pull up the original Post printing of her statements, but thanks to ComingSoon.net, which quoted her word for word, I can tell that she neither said that Weinstein has the rights nor that it is just a dream. She actually said, "Now the rumor is out and hot that the Weinstein Company is close on the heels of director Rob Marshall for a movie version of the show about the evolution of that famous stripper - Gypsy Rose Lee - and her infamous stage mother, Rose." From there, I don't know how Zeta-Jones became part of the mix, except that she has mentioned interest in playing Rose a few years ago, though she was talking about a Broadway revival then.  

Anyway, the film could still be a possibility in the future, if Weinstein does decide to buy the rights. For someone with as much power as Harvey Weinstein, dreams do come true.

[via Playbill]

Those of us who don't like looking at Renée Zellweger's ribs tend to agree that one of the best things about Rob Marshall's Chicago was Catherine Zeta-Jones' appearance as Velma. Not only is she unashamedly shaped like an actual woman (Look -- curves! Holy crap! Is that allowed?), but she also has a strong background in stage musicals and can actually sing and dance. For these reasons, it's unsurprising (but nevertheless exciting) to hear that she's in the thick of the rumors that are circulating about Marshall directing a screen version of Gypsy for The Weinstein Company. Though the piece (from the New York Post's eminently *cough* reliable Liz Smith) offers no details on which role Zeta-Jones would play, one assumes she's more a little bit old to play Gypsy and would mostly likely play Mama Rose, a role that has been described as "the pinnacle of all diva roles in musical theater."

Assuming they didn't cast freaking Jessica Alba or something as Gypsy, a movie with Zeta-Jones as Mama Rose has tons of potential, and you know she'd love it -- after all, what musical theater actress doesn't secretly want to take on Ethel Merman (who originated the role on Broadway)?

The recent decision by the Chinese government to ban Memoirs of a Geisha from domestic screens isn't going to stop anyone from seeing Rob Marshall's film. In fact, Chinese citizens have been watching the movie for months: thanks to the country's thriving piracy industry, DVDs of Geisha are widely available for prices much lower than those paid for movie tickets. Though the Chinese government is restrictive enough that it routinely "protects" its citizens from the harmful influence of foreign cultural elements, the fact that roughly 95% of the DVDs available in the country are thought to be pirated (the numbers, obviously, are even higher for banned films and TV shows) sort of removes the teeth from the government's actions. I wonder what the reaction to the ban has been among Chinese citizens - it sounds as if, under current circumstances, it's little more than political window dressing.