Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby

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http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/12/18/baz-luhrmanns-the-great-gatsby/

According to Nikki Finke, Moulin Rouge and Romeo and Juliet director Baz Luhrmann (we’ll pretend Australia never happened) has signed on to helm a big screen adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby.


I’m embarrassed to admit that I’ve never read F. Scott’s 1922 novel or seen any of the many movie adaptations (one of which starred Robert Redford and Mia Farrow with a script by Francis Ford Coppola and another starring… Paul Rudd?), so I’ll refrain from even pretending to know a little about what I’m talking about with this one. You can read the entire book on Google’s Book Search. The official description from the Scriber Classics paperback follows:


“The exemplary novel of the Jazz Age, F. Scott Fitzgeralds’ third book, The Great Gatsby (1925), stands as the supreme achievement of his career. T. S. Eliot read it three times and saw it as the “first step” American fiction had taken since Henry James; H. L. Mencken praised “the charm and beauty of the writing,” as well as Fitzgerald’s sharp social sense; and Thomas Wolfe hailed it as Fitzgerald’s “best work” thus far. The story of the fabulously wealthy Jay Gatsby and his love for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan, of lavish parties on Long Island at a time when, The New York Times remarked, “gin was the national drink and sex the national obsession,” it is an exquisitely crafted tale of America in the 1920s that resonates with the power of myth. A novel of lyrical beauty yet brutal realism, of magic, romance, and mysticism, The Great Gatsby is one of the great classics of twentieth-century literature.”


The Great Gatsby never looked like a fun read (then again, I hate period dramas), which probably explains why I never checked it out (am I wrong?). I’d love to see Luhrmann compliment his visionary style with a fun story again.
 
Well, I love the book, but I really don't think it's something that lends itself to film all that well. Maybe Baz can make it work, but I just don't think that many people would go to see it. And after Australia, Luhrman doesn't need another box office flop on his hands.
 
Hasnt this been done to death? Why is another adaptation necessary?
 
I had to flinch at the thread title. I do hate when adaptions of earlier works are called "so and so's *insert title*", but I get why you posted it like that. :p
 
I'd see this. The book was good. :up:
 
I thought Scorsese was directing this and that Vincent Chase was starring. :confused:

edit: Dammit! Not quick enough.
 
You damn kids and your Entourage references...
 
ugh. I was forced to read this multiple times in high school. Never a huge fan since I just found all the characters so whiny and unlikeable.
 
ugh. I was forced to read this multiple times in high school. Never a huge fan since I just found all the characters so whiny and unlikeable.
Same here. There was a point when I wanted to go back in time and roundhouse kick F. Scott Fitzgerald in the face.
 
I don't know if this is a good idea. If not cast perfectly and done perfectly people will hate it. I don't think this could translate well as is.
 
Wow! To be honest Baz Luhrmann is the PERFECT director for this movie. The story fits his sense of style perfectly! This should be good...I haven't seen a Great Gatsby film yet (I know there was one starring the lady from rosmary's baby I beleive...but I never watched it)...the book is pretty good. I read it twice, once in high school and read it again on my spare time...its reminds me of Citizen Kane in a way.

And I don't think this is meant to be a box office 'hit' this movie doesn't need a big budget.
 
I loved the 1974 Redford "Great Gatsby".... I don't suppose we need another one. Oh well. Since it's a book they have an excuse to make a gazillion versions. Right?
 
The book is....alright. It's very well written but doesn't lend itself to film. Even though they've done it multiple times.
 
Baz is perfect for this. The Great Gatsby is very much defined by the colors of the areas they are in, and he'll do wonders for the atmosphere.
 
This is a book I hated at first glance, but as I thought about it more, I appreciated it a lot more. When you examine the book's atmosphere, how it effects what happens in a particular chapter, etc. This is quite a read. This book grew on me, and I think Baz is a nice fit for the film.
 
I'm a big fan of Baz and hope to see Australia in the near future (I don't care what the reviews say, I'm plowing forward) and there has not been a good adaptation of The Great Gatsby yet, (I like Robert Retford as much as the next guy and it was perfect casting, but that movie sucked), but i'm not sure if this is a good combination. While the 1920s party scenes will be fine for Baz, the quieter more reflective moments will not, IMO.

BTW anyone here have any opinions on Australia for me? Also, let me add looking at Spider-Fan's avy it is too bad Ledger is gone, because he would have been a great Gatsby and given that he is a Brit, I'm sure Baz would've liked to use him. Then again Hugh Jackman would be very good in the role...
 
In my mind's eye...I always imagined Jude Law as Gatsby. No offence but I dont think Heath would've made a good Gatsby...he'd make a good Heathcliff, ironically haha (from Wuthering Heights)....Hugh Jackman wouldn't be bad.

I also though Heath Ledger was Australian, not British
 

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