Back in April, Movie Buzzers reported on the casting news surrounding Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby in 3D. According to The Hollywood Reporter, production is underway in Sydney, Australia, with a staggering $125 million budget. This makes sense of course when you consider who the leads are: Leonardo DiCaprio (Inception) as Jay Gatsby and Tobey Maguire (The Details) as the novel’s narrator, Nick Carraway.
Also in tow is an impressive supporting cast of Carey Mulligan (Drive) as Daisy Fay Buchanan, Joel Edgerton (Warrior) as Daisy’s temperamental husband, Tom, Isla Fisher (Rango) as Myrtle Wilson, Jason Clarke (Texas Killing Fields) as George Wilson, Callan McAuliffe (I Am Number Four) as a young Gatsby. Also, Gemma Ward (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides) is listed in an unnamed role.
Other unfamiliar names filling important parts for the film include Indian actor Amitabh Bachchan, who takes on Meyer Wolfsheim, and Australian newcomer Elizabeth Debicki is Nick’s love interest, Jordan Baker. It was originally reported that Hayley Atwell (Pillars of the Earth) was going to play Jordan, but the British actress has since signed on for the drama thriller I, Anna.
For those of you who are new to the story, IMDB offers this summary for the romantic drama: “An adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Long Island-set novel, where Midwesterner Nick Carraway is lured into the lavish world of his neighbor, Jay Gatsby. Soon enough, however, Carraway will see through the cracks of Gatsby’s nouveau riche existence, where obsession, madness, and tragedy await.”
Although Australia is home to Luhrmann, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s timeless Jazz Age tale was set on New York’s Long Island. THR reports that Warner Bros. is letting Luhrmann “create his own distinctive visual interpretation of the classic story, bringing the period to life in a way that has never been seen before.”
Luhrmann is invested in the project beyond his directorial duties since he co-wrote the screenplay with friend, Craig Pearce (Moulin Rouge!), as well as co-producing and co-designing with wife, Catherine Martin, under his company Bazmark Films. Luhrmann also adds, “Fitzgerald’s story defies time and geography. The vision and the goal of our remarkable cast and creatives is to do justice to the deftness of Fitzgerald’s telling, and illuminate its big ideas and humanity. This is our challenge and our adventure.”
Filming is expected to last for seventeen weeks with over four hundred cast and crew members in Australia. In addition, post-production will be another thirty weeks after that, so the expected November 2012 premiere makes sense.
Have you been following the news behind this film’s production? Do you think DiCaprio can fill the shoes of the legendary literary character, Jay Gatsby? Is this a movie that deserves the 3D hype? Give us some feedback on your thoughts behind the making of Fitzgerald’s great American novel for the big screen!
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