Here's something interesting. 'Ostraya' might have been the last hurrah, rather than the next wave.
Luhrmann admits that executives at 20th Century Fox, the Hollywood studio behind the film, were having problems marketing it to audiences because of its mix of slapstick comedy and intense drama.
"Fox are having trouble selling it," he said.
"They're having trouble making a trailer that can sell tickets.
"I'm scared and fearful of this. Will everyone get it? No. But I've been amazed by the variety of audiences who are intensely emotional in reacting to it."
Luhrmann said while he had no definite projects in the pipeline at the moment, one day he planned to "take that James Bond film".
"That'll be fun," he said.
Kidman also reiterated her desire to reduce her acting workload in favour of focusing on being mum to her baby Sunday Rose.
"I have to say I'm not that interested in making films any more," she told the newspaper.
"I know I'm not meant to say that, but that's where it is for me now.
"I'm 41 years old and very happy being in Tennessee with my baby and with my husband.
"I obviously have creative blood in me and it needs to come out in some way but I just don't have that burning desire any more.
"I'm not saying I'm never going to work again, but I'm at peace with whatever happens, which is a nice place to be at this stage of my life."
I swear it reads like Baz is blaming ALL the failure of 'Ostraya' on Nicole Kidman - which he probably isn't, but how exactly are we to interpret all this?
I don't know about Kidman's semi-retirement. She is in a position to do whatever she likes.It's also the case that she's hit that age where she can't easily be the romantic/sexual interest of the story, which means she'll be paid less.
As for Luhrmann's claim that he would "take that Bond movie", you'd have to say, "Don't".
Let's face it, the Bond Movie this time around spanked Baz's movie into oblivion at the Box Office. I hardly think Luhrmann is in a position to be dismissive about Bond Movies in general. If your auteur work wasn't good enough to take on a Bond Movie when given the marketing support of a major studio, then how good could you possibly be working for another franchise project? It's pretty galling to think that having made a bunch of largely cruddy films, Luhrmann thinks he's up to doing a Bond Movie.
Narnia In Ostraya
Pleiades gave me the heads-up on this as usual. The first Narnia flick was shot in NZ in the wake of the Rings trilogy. Now there's a rumour that the third might come to Australia.
A surge of Hollywood interest in Australia as a filming location could lead to another coup: the next Chronicles Of Narnia film.
Following The Lion, The Witch And The Wardobe and Prince Caspian, filming for The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader was to begin in Mexico next month, much of it at the Baja Studios water tank that was used for Titanic and Master And Commander.
But difficult conditions, including a rise in violence associated with a drug war, are believed to have led Disney and Walden Media to hunt for a new location to shoot the reputed $US100 million ($150 million) movie.
SiT hears that film industry officials in NSW and Queensland are chasing the movie and the Sunshine State is favoured to win because of the water tank at Warner Roadshow Studios on the Gold Coast. The Dawn Treader needs studios, beaches, jungles and other locations for a five-month shoot.
Well why not? We haven't had much Hollywood fare for the crews since the heyday of Star Wars 2&3 and the Matrix series. What really shits me in all of this is that when these things get made, these Film Offices strut about as if they've accomplished something truly great, when all they've done is set themselves up as the lowest bidder.
A Win For Barbie
Mattel has won its case against the company that poached one of its designers, who took his designs of a certain Bratz range of dolls to Mattel's competitor. It's all a bit weird, but here's the link thanks to Pleiades.
The ruling sent shockwaves through toyland as the industry gears up for its busiest time of the year. In June, sales of Bratz in the US reached $3.1bn (£2.1bn) since their launch in 2001. Sales of Barbie, still America's most popular toy, fell by 15% in 2007.
The ruling comes three months after Mattel, the makers of Barbie, won a copyright case in which it argued that the Bratz concept had been developed by one of its designers. A jury agreed that Carter Bryant had come up with the original designs while at Mattel and had taken them to MGA, which launched the Bratz line in 2001. The jury awarded Mattel $10m for copyright infringement and $90m for breach of contract.
Judge Stephen Larson's ruling effectively places the Bratz brand under the control of Mattel.
Judging from the brief description, it's actually interesting that it took so long! You'd think the horse had bolted a long time before and won a couple of trophies by now.
Mailbox Funnies
This one from Pleiades is pretty cute.
Governmentium has a normal half-life of 2- 6 years. It does not decay, but instead undergoes a reorganization in which a portion of the assistant neutrons and deputy neutrons exchange places.
In fact, Governmentium's mass will actually increase over time, since each reorganization will cause more morons to become neutrons, forming isodopes.
This characteristic of morons promotion leads some scientists to believe that Governmentium is formed whenever morons reach a critical concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to as critical morass.
It's a little ideological. If you thought that was funny, try this. Dick Cheney thinks he and his boss did a good job while in office.
Cheney displayed no regrets and gave no ground to his many critics within America and around the world. He summed up his record by saying: "I think, given the circumstances we've had to deal with, we've done pretty well."
He told ABC News he stood by the most controversial policies of the Bush administration, and urged president-elect Barack Obama to think hard before undoing them. Asked about the use of torture on terror suspects, he replied: "We don't do torture. We never have. It's not something this administration subscribes to."
Later in the same interview, Cheney was asked whether the use of waterboarding in the interrogation of the alleged mastermind of the September 11 attacks, Khaled Sheikh Mohammed, had been appropriate. He replied: "I do."
Waterboarding is a technique that induces the sensation of drowning, and is widely regarded as a form of torture. It was used on three high-level al-Qaida suspects, including Mohammed, but has since been banned by the US.
Dick, I think I'd like to know what you mean by 'pretty' because I'm not sure I can stand by your definition of 'pretty well'.
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