Baz Luhrmann is a bit of a hit & miss director for me. Whilst I really enjoyed Romeo + Juliet, I thought Moulin Rouge was overrated and almost parody-like at times, and Australia, whilst beautiful, was nowhere near as emotionally effecting as it was clearly intended to be. That said, he certainly has a brilliant eye for style and big-scale drama so he could well prove to be a brilliant match for the film adaptation of The Great Gatsby, a short book that already had the cinema treatment most famously with Robert Redford.Luhrmann's version of the story, which is set in the 'roaring twenties' in America and centres around beautiful people with tonnes of money (basically), is set to star Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire as Gatsby and Nick Garraway, two close friends who's friendship frames the movie. Carey Mulligan has inexplicably been cast as the beautiful and engaging Daisy Buchanan who gets into all sorts of shenanigans with Gatsby, and now (according to The Hollywood Reporter) Isla Fisher is circling a role too.
This will be a change for Fisher, who up to now has been known for kooky comedies and being Borat's missus. Still, she's pretty good in what she's been in so far so the change in tone might be a welcome thing! Oddly enough the movie is being shot in 3D, which will make for interesting viewing although I can't see why he'd choose this movie for that format.....
Still, far be it from me not to trust the man who did the sunscreen song. The Great Gatsby is scheduled to hit cinemas in 2012. Maybe.
