By Yes, you read that correctly. If you burst into tears and/or vowed bloody vengeance, you reacted correctly too. According to Deadline, Baz Luhrmann, a Trimalchio of a director if ever there was one, is preparing to mount an adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and on the hunt for an actress to play the revered but deeply insecure socialite Daisy. To reiterate: the man who ‘directed’ Moulin Rouge! is working on a story about the perils of hollow excesses. Mr. Luhrmann, your irony’s in the post.
While Deadline says that Luhrmann has so far only been workshopping the script, something he is believed to do with all his films (hard to believe, I know), the star quality already reportedly involved at this early stage – with Leonardo DiCaprio reading Gatsby and Tobey Maguire reading Nick – makes it seem likely that the project is being taken seriously. Like, Australia seriously. This would appear to confirm rumours of the director’s interest in the project that have abounded the interwebs for almost two years.
[Via Deadline]
Yes, you read that correctly. If you burst into tears and/or vowed bloody vengeance, you reacted correctly too. According to Deadline, Baz Luhrmann, a Trimalchio of a director if ever there was one, is preparing to mount an adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby and on the hunt for an actress to play the revered but deeply insecure socialite Daisy. To reiterate: the man who 'directed' Moulin Rouge! is working on a story about the perils of hollow excesses. Mr. Luhrmann, your irony's in the post.
While Deadline says that Luhrmann has so far only been workshopping the script, something he is believed to do with all his films (hard to believe, I know), the star quality already reportedly involved at this early stage – with Leonardo DiCaprio reading Gatsby and Tobey Maguire reading Nick – makes it seem likely that the project is being taken seriously. Like, Australia seriously. This would appear to confirm rumours of the director's interest in the project that have abounded the interwebs for almost two years.
[Via Deadline]{{page_break}}
Although Rebecca Hall is reported to have read for Daisy in the workshop, Luhrmann is said to still be looking at other actresses for the role. While Hall purportedly remains in the running, other names mooted include Natalie Portman (fresh off her phenomenal performance in Black Swan), Keira Knightley, Amanda Seyfried, Carey Mulligan, Scarlett Johansson, Abbie Cornish, Michelle Williams and Blake Lively. If nothing else it's a list packed with talent and Blake Lively.
The only surprise is the absence on the list of my personal favourite, Emily Blunt. All the actresses mentioned would bring something to the role (even Lively has her Gossip Girl character sort of coming from the right ballpark), but none seem quite right to embody Daisy's very specific character. She needs to be beautiful enough to be the subject of Gatsby's longing, old enough to have credible history with DiCaprio, with the acting depths to portray a character with a glamourous and blasé façade concealing a soul of fractured glass. Anyone fortunate enough to catch Blunt's early performances in My Summer of Love and Gideon's Daughter will know that she has considerable expertise in these kinds of roles, in addition to being the right age and exceptionally gorgeous.
Gatsby has yet to be successfully adapted for the screen, despite several efforts including a Francis Ford Coppola-scripted 1974 production starring Robert Redford and Mia Farrow. If those three at the height of their powers couldn't come close to capturing Fitzgerald's fragile tragedy, it beggars belief to imagine how a Baz Luhrmann version could end up. Still, that Romeo + Juliet wasn't too bad, was it? There's hope, isn't there?
Short answer: no.