Although Australia sadly ended up as one of this year’s biggest flops (currently at $39 million), filmmaker Baz Luhrmann has already started work on his next project - F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. Nikki Finke of Deadline Hollywood confirms that this is Luhrmann’s next gig and that he’s already actively searching for a young actress to portray Daisy in the film. This isn’t the first time Fitzgerald’s book has been adapted - there was a 1974 film directed by Jack Clayton as well as a 1949 film directed by Elliott Nugent. However, I’m expecting Luhrmann’s version to be much more grandiose and certainly very epic.
First published in 1925, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby chronicles an era that Fitzgerald himself dubbed the “Jazz Age.” The story is presented as a recollection of Nick Carraway, a young man from a patrician Midwestern family who lived in New York after graduating from Yale in the early 1920s. Nick declares that, following his father’s advice, he avoids judging people: a habit that has caused trouble, exemplified by events concerning a man named Gatsby. Eventually Nick meets the wealthy Daisy Buchanan and begins a love affair with her which plays out through the remainder of the book.
If I must comment on this news, while I am a Baz Luhrmann fan, I’m not yet convinced The Great Gatsby will turn as wonderful as any of his previous films. I definitely won’t argue the significance of this American classic, however, it just doesn’t seem like a story that’s best suited for the screen. Then again, I haven’t read it since I was first forced to do so back in school years ago, and maybe there’s something more to it that Luhrmann can pull out. Whatever the case, this certainly seems like another wholly ambitious project for Luhrmann and I definitely wish him the best of luck. Can any devout fans of The Great Gatsby convince me that there is a good cinematic story to tell?
