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.

Oscar season is upon us and with it comes the discussion of film legends who never won an Academy Award. While on this topic, it is important to acknowledge how many great producers are ignored by Oscar due to the fact that foreign films are rarely nominated for Best Picture. Carlo Ponti was such a great producer, and with his death today, he misses the opportunity of ever receiving an Academy Award, even a lifetime achievement honor.

Ponti is not well known, but he should be. Aside from the fact that he discovered Sophia Loren, whose film career he jump-started and who he married (twice -- kind of), he also produced films for many of the masters of cinema, including Antonioni (Blow Up; Zabriskie Point; The Passenger), Fellini (La Strada), de Sica (basically any of his starring Loren), Demy (Lola), Godard (A Woman is a Woman; The Riflemen; Contempt), Polanski (What?), Melville (Le Doulos; The Forgiven Sinner), Forman (The Fireman's Ball), Varda (Cléo from 5 to 7) and Lean (Doctor Zhivago). Some of his films were nominated for the foreign language Oscar, and a couple won the award, but Ponti was only nominated once, for Zhivago, in the Best Picture category (which is oftentimes considered the Best Producer category). Of course, he did get to help his wife win an Oscar, at least -- for de Sica's Two Women.