May 31, 2006

Baz + Nicole - Russell + HEATH LEDGER?!


The New York Post is reporting that Russell is out and Heath is in on Baz Luhrmann's epic Australian-set romance film. Russell apparently did the exact same thing that he did for Jocelyn Moorehouse' Eucalyptus which was to star Nicole and Russell. He apparently demanded script changes which ultimately destroyed the project (just like that - it doesn't even have an IMDb page anymore). And since Russ and Nic were so desperate to work together they teamed with Baz to make a film set in Darwin during WWII. So now Russell is out (despite apparently wanting to come back on board) and Baz has subsequently hired Ennis Del Mar himself, Heath Ledger.

Heath is most definitely having one of the greatest career reneisances I can think of and he's not even 30! First Brokeback Mountain for which he, as we all know, was robbed of the Oscar for. He currently has Candy in Australian cinemas which is going great (debuted at #6 on 38 screens - more on that tomorrow with the box-office roundup) and for which he has gotten (after Brokeback of course) career-best reviews. And now he's portraying Bob Dylan in Todd Haynes' I'm Not There and after that will most likely move onto Baz' latest magnum opus. Way to go Heath!

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And in news that will surely dampen Nathaniel's April Fools' numbers word has it that The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford will be moved to, ahem, first quarter of 2007. So it appears it won't be getting any Oscar nominations this year, next year or any other year. Shame, really. I don't exactly know where this information has come from but various people are mentioning it on Dave Poland's blog with a matter-of-factly voice. ??? Hmmm.

6 comments:

par3182 said...

russell out and heath in - there's absolutely no downside to that story.

Glenn Dunks said...

The only downside is maybe the age difference. But we know Heath can do longing romance, so...

(i personally like Russell, but I don't care either way with this! Let's get Heath Academy Award nomination #2!)

adam k. said...

The age difference is not a huge deal. Late 20's + Late 30's is kind of standard. Did anyone even THINK about the fact that in the filming of Eternal Sunshine, Jim Carrey was 41 and Kate Winslet was 27? Crazy, right? By the time they get around to filming this, probably Nicole will be just turning 40, and Heath will be turning turning 28. It's not that bad. Think Ashton & Demi. I say, good for Nicole. (also, in the filming of Cold Mountain, Nicole was already playing the older woman, 35 to Jude's just-in-the-process-of-turning 30... so she's sort of been there).

And I knew from the title that Assassination would be a tough sell for oscar noms in any year. Titles are everything. Sorry.

NATHANIEL R said...

grrrr. i'm angry. not because of my stats (who cares is always my motto for april fools predix) but because I was desperate to see this... it looks so interesting.

grrrr... (for assassination I mean)

the baz thing is even more enticing now. yeay!

Glenn Dunks said...

Wow, I'd never thought of the Eternal Sunshine thing. And I didn't think the age was a big issue it was just the only downside I could find considering Heath doesn't really look like he's about to be knocking on 30.

par3182 said...

a younger man is rarely a downside.