Home>News Center>Life
         
 

Russell, Nicole hooking up?
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-05-06 15:21

Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman, who were supposed to team up in the romantic fable Eucalyptus earlier this year before the production was postponed indefinitely, are hoping to hook up again.

The Oscar winners are director Baz Luhrmann's top choices to headline his latest project, an untitled Australian romantic epic for 20th Century Fox that insiders are describing as Oz's answer to Gone with the Wind.

According to the Hollywood trades, a deal isn't yet on the table, but Crowe and Kidman are being targeted for what is expected to be the first in a troika of epics Luhrmann has up his sleeve for the next decade that was originally supposed to kick off with his big-screen version of Alexander the Great.

But after Oliver Stone beat Luhrmann to the starting line with Alexander, the Aussie filmmaker opted to shelve that biopic for now in favor of developing the other two epics--the envisioned Crowe-Kidman period place set Down Under and the other one set in Russia during World War I. The trio of films is envisioned as a companion to his so-called Red Curtain Trilogy of the '90s--Strictly Ballroom (1992), William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet (1996) and Moulin Rouge!.

Things were delayed even further when Luhrmann and his Oscar-winning production designer wife, Catherine Martin, announced last summer that they were expecting a child.

According to Baz's Australian-based publicist, Maria Farmer, the Moulin Rouge! maestro is by no means idle.

"Baz has for some time been developing his trilogy of epic works, including the ancient epic based on the life of Alexander the Great. He is cowriting these works with different collaborators," Farmer told E! Online last week. "Currently Stuart Beattie is cowriting with him on the Australian epic and Baz is also working on his own pass of his European epic."

(Beattie is best known for penning Tom Cruise's Collateral, and he also came up with the screen story for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.)

"All of these major works are being developed in parallel and Baz intends to commit to a production slate after the birth of his son in June."

At that point, Crowe and Kidman may have an open date on their calendars.

The pair were forced to put Jocelyn Moorehouse's Eucalyptus on hold in February due to script changes that, Crowe claimed, beefed up his supporting role into a lead part and included full-frontal nudity for his character. Fox Searchlight claimed the postponement was a collective decision by all involved.

Crowe, currently plugging the upcoming boxing drama Cinderella Man, has been looking around for a high-profile picture for the fall.

Kidman, meanwhile, has three other films on the drawing board she'll have to work around: Tony Scott's humanitarian aid drama Emma's War; American Darlings, a swing musical costarring Jennifer Lopez; and the romantic comedy Wedding Seasons.

The actress, currently seen in The Interpreter, received an Oscar nomination for her lead role in Moulin Rouge! and has been eager to work with Luhrmann again.

The filmmaker had hoped to cast Kidman as Olympia, mother to Leonardo DiCaprio's Alexander in his Alexander the Great, but with that project in a holding pattern for now, it's likely those roles will be recast.

While the movie reunion is on hold, Luhrmann and Kidman did briefly get together for the new Chanel No. 5 ad campaign.



Disneyland's 50th anniversary
Giant 255-year-old tortoise in Indian zoo
German model-actress Claudia Schiffer promotes new film
  Today's Top News     Top Life News
 

President Hu and Bush talk about Taiwan, trade

 

   
 

Soong aims for the 'bridge of trust'

 

   
 

China's minister cools yuan revalue talk

 

   
 

Country 'shocked' by Japan's Taiwan stance

 

   
 

Exit Polls: Blair wins historic third term

 

   
 

China recalls germ warfare experiments

 

   
  Majority of Californians make less than half the income needed to buy a home
   
  Scientists find molecule linked to infertility
   
  Shanghai gears up in the lane for luxury
   
  Experts unveil 'most beautiful mummy'
   
  Witness: Jackson in financial trouble
   
  Crowd jams street to see Paris Hilton in Toronto
   
 
  Go to Another Section  
 
 
  Story Tools  
   
  Related Stories  
   
Nicole Kidman on clothes and loneliness
   
Nicole wins top skin award
   
Listening device left outside Kidman's Sydney home
   
Nicole Kidman to be Citizen of the World
   
Nicole turns Michael down for date
   
Mum Nicole: Not easy to find mate
   
Kidman shuns search for love waiting for Tom
  Feature  
  1/3 Chinese youth condone premarital sex  
Advertisement