Casting Bits: Nicole Kidman Considering Phillip Noyce’s ‘Our Wild Life’, Dakota Johnson Grabs Three New Roles
Posted on Wednesday, May 4th, 2011 by Angie Han
Late last year, Salt director Phillip Noyce became the latest director to sign on for Our Wild Life, based on the story of Kenyan elephant conservationist Daphne Sheldrick. (Whose work was recently documented in the IMAX film Born To Be Wild.) The project had already racked up a pretty troubled history by this point — Nick Cassavetes (The Notebook) was originally attached to direct, but left on bad terms. He eventually sued New Line for not letting him direct from his own rewrite of Jeff Stockwell’s original script. Since then, The Motorcycle Diaries director Walter Salles has picked up and dropped the project, and Julia Roberts, Kate Winslet, Charlize Theron, and Drew Barrymore have each been reported or rumored to star at some point.
Now, a new story suggests that Nicole Kidman may be the latest actress to attempt to get the project up and running — but her involvement is nowhere near certain. Kidman is said to have “read and liked the script,” which is certainly not the same thing as “signing on to the project.” Indeed, her rep at CAA has said that she is not officially attached to Our Wild Life at this point. Still, it’s possible we’ll be hearing about more solid negotiations sometime in the near future.
Then again, maybe we won’t. As The Playlist points out, scheduling conflicts may ultimately prevent Kidman from coming on board, no matter how much she loved the script. Our Wild Life is reportedly aiming to begin shooting in September, but Kidman has already committed to starring opposite James Franco in Sweet Bird of Youth on Broadway this fall. We’ll keep you updated as Kidman’s involvement, or lack thereof, becomes clearer. [The Wrap via The Playlist]
After the jump, an actress you’ve probably seen but don’t know by name snags not one, not two, but three new roles.
