Luhrmann is at least the fourth director to be attached to an Alexander epic, going back as far as 1995. (Check out Greg Dean Schmitz's timeline for all the facts.) Usual Suspects scribe Christopher McQuarrie, who wrote and directed the violent but underrated Way of the Gun, was first in line. When he dropped out last October, some guy named Martin Scorsese said he wanted to direct the Alexander story, with his Gangs of New York star Leonardo DiCaprio playing the lead role. (McQuarrie's choice was supposedly Jude Law.)
Meanwhile, Oliver Stone announced in February his own plans for a movie about the famous Macedonian who conquered 90% of the known world before he was 25. HBO even jumped on the Alexander bandwagon with plans for a 10-part miniseries. And did I mention that Alfonso Arau (Like Water For Chocolate) has his own version in the works as well?
Scorsese has since dropped out to make his Howard Hughes biopic with DiCaprio, and HBO has put its plans on hold as well. That leaves Stone, Arau, and Luhrmann to see who can get to audiences first. No word yet on possible casting for Luhrmann's version. Stone was set to go with Heath Ledger, but replaced him in May with another Aussie, Colin Farrell.
Matthew McConaughey's name was being tossed around by Warner Bros. back in 1996 as a possible candidate to portray Alexander, who died of illness at the young age of 33 (click here and here for two other noteworthy guys who died at 33) and is widely believed to have been gay.
It sounds like Jude Law is out, which is too bad because he's by far the best actor whose name has been mentioned so far.
Who would you like to see as Alexander?
No comments:
Post a Comment