Scottish director Lynne Ramsay is best known for her last film, We Need to Talk About Kevin (which had some interesting ideas but was ultimately a dull slog), and yesterday was set to start production on her follow up, Jane Got a Gun, a movie about Steven Tyler’s gender reassignment starring Natalie Portman as an outlaw’s wife defending her farm. Only Ramsay mysteriously pulled a no show, leaving the cast and crew hanging, and no one quite knows why. But if I know anything about Scots, she was probably swimming through a sewer looking for heroin.
EXCLUSIVE: When the cast and crew of the indie drama Jane Got A Gun showed up for the first day of production Monday in Sante Fe, they learned that director Lynne Ramsay was a no-show and had abruptly dropped out of the film. Among those who learned of her exit yesterday were Natalie Portman, who stars in the film and is producing with Scott Steindorff, Joel Edgerton, Jude Law and Rodrigo Santoro. Steindorff, who is financing the picture through his Scott Pictures label, confirmed the crisis and said they are determined to hold the picture together until they set a new director. He said that would happen imminently. [Deadline]
Michael F. Assbender also dropped out of the film about a week ago, so they added Jude Law and reshuffled some of the cast, so maybe that had something to do with Ramsay’s departure. A quasi-definite MAYBE.
…scheduling delays on “X-Men: Days Of Future Past” have forced Fassbender out of the picture. So instead, Edgerton will take Fassbender’s vacant role, with Jude Law coming on board in Edgerton’s former part as the villain.
That seems like a lot to wrap your head around only a week before you’re supposed to start shooting, so maybe the pressure got to her, or she thought she needed more time. You know, either that, or Lynne Ramsay is an unprofessional prima donna who’s tanking the whole project, which seems to be the story out of the producer camp:
Not surprisingly, Steindorff indicated that there is a high level of acrimony here. He said that Ramsay has a pay or play deal, and that he has also retained litigator Marty Singer to keep his options open. The crew is still showing up to work and the project is still being cash flowed, with actors rehearsing scenes. “I have millions of dollars invested, we’re ready to shoot, we have a great script, crew and cast,” Steindorff told Deadline. “I’m shocked and so disappointed someone would do this to 150 crew members who devoted so much time, energy, commitment and loyalty to a project, and then have the director not show up. It is insane somebody would do this to other people. I feel more for the crew and their families, but we are keeping the show going on, directors are flying in, and a replacement is imminent.” [Deadline]
And good luck to her replacement, because what a fun job that’s going to be! Anyway, more news as it comes, but personally, I still like my heroin theory.
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