Kate Hudson joins the “Nine” cast

Kate Hudson will be joining the cast of “Nine,” winning the role in Rob Marshall’s big screen version of the Broadway musical.

Hudson beat rival actresses Sienna Miller and Anne Hathaway to win the role of fashion journalist Stephanie.

Daniel Day-Lewis, Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard, Sophia Loren, Nicole Kidman and Judi Dench are already among the cast.

Shooting on “Nine,” which marks “Chicago” director Marshall’s return to the musical genre, is scheduled to commence in September.

Johnny Depp - New ”Public Enemies” on the set photos

You could see the first ”Public Enemies” on the set photos earlier- Johnny Depp as John Dillinger and Christian Bale as Melvin Purvis

Collider.com have new images from filming in California.

Daniel Day-Lewis in ‘Nine’

After Javier Bardem withdrew from the upcoming screen adaptation of the Broadway show ‘Nine‘, Daniel Day-Lewis will assume the leading role, reports Weekly Variety.

Day-Lewis will play the Italian film director Guido Contini.

Guido is conflicted by his artistic drive, sexual desires and his Catholicism, and Raul Julia, who was Puerto Rican, originated the role for the musical in 1982. Antonio Banderas, starred in a successful 2003 Broadway revival.

For the movie, Nicole Kidman and Judi Dench have been widely mentioned to star as two of the many women in Guido’s life, while Marion Cotillard, screen legend Sophia Loren and Penelope Cruz have already been cast.

The movie, scheduled for release next year, is to be directed by Chicago’s Rob Marshall. Harvey Weinstein, whose former studio released the 2002 Chicago and 1989’s My Left Foot, which brought Day-Lewis his first Best Actor Oscar, is producing.

I just hope Day-Lewis won’t regret for this move.

Daniel Day-Lewis to sing in ‘Nine’?

Daniel Day-Lewis is in talks to follow “There Will Be Blood” with “Nine,” the Rob Marshall-directed musical for The Weinstein Co.

Day-Lewis in consideration for ‘Nine’ after Russell Crowe, George Clooney and Javier Bardem pass, as we previously announced. So, Bardem wasn’t even the first choice.

The Weinstein Company spokesman denied that a lead had been set:

“Any of the names being thrown around is pure conjecture, and when we’re ready to make an announcement, we’ll let you know.”

The role is a famous film director who experiences personal and creative crisis while trying to balance all the women in his life.

Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard, Sophia Loren, Nicole Kidman and Judi Dench will play the women. The musical was inspired by the Fellini film “8 ½.”

Branka Katic as Johnny Depp’s lover in ‘Public Enemies’

Serbian actress Branka Katic is currently shooting Michael Mann’s thriller “Public Enemies”, which deals with crime wave in the 1930’s.

The actress plays the role of Anna Sage, a fatal “Lady in Red”, who fingered the notorious gangster John Dillinger to the FBI agents.

The film directed by Michael Mann deals with the crime wave in America in the early 1930’s, led by criminals John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson and Pretty Boy Floyd.

Johnny Depp plays Dillinger, the bank robber, who robbed over 300,000 dollars during his short career, which represented a huge sum of money during the Depression era. He was killed on July 22, 1934 in front of the Biograph Theater in Chicago, where he coincidentally watched a crime drama ‘Manhattan Melodrama‘ (Clark Gable).

He was set up an ambush by his girlfriend Ana Sage, played by Serbian actress Branka Katic. Ana Cumpanas, also known as Anna Sage and “The Woman in Red”, was a brothel owner in Chicago. In order to prevent her deportation back to her native Romania, Cumpanas fingered Dillinger to the FBI. However, the promise was never kept and she was deported in 1936, where she died 11 years later.

Agent Melvin Purvis is played by Christian Bale, while Dillinger’s girlfriend Billie Frechette is played by Marion Cotillard, who won the Best Actress Academy Award for her role in “La Vie en Rose”.

Shooting of the film “Public Enemies”, started in Columbus, will last until the end of June and the premiere is scheduled for July 1, 2009.

Nicole Kidman in Another Musical - ‘Nine’

After her role in musical film “Moulin Rouge!” (2001), Nicole Kidman is said to lay her eyes on another singing role in “Nine“, a feature film adaptation of a Broadway musical.

Kidman is negotiating to attain a role in the film. If the negotiation goes well, she will be joining the already star-studded cast that include Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard and Sophia Loren.

She may also work together with acclaimed actress Judi Dench, who is also reported to be in talks to star in the drama musical film.

Nicole Kidman is expected to give birth in the summer, several months before the filming is scheduled to start in September 2008. It is further explained that the co-star of Hugh Jackman in forthcoming “Australia” will have her filming to be shot in the latter part of production.

Adapted from the 1982 Tony-winning Broadway musical, “Nine” is set to be helmed by “Chicago” director Rob Marshall. The film actually was set to be tackled by the late writer/director Anthony Minghella and previously scheduled to begin filming in March 2008.

‘Nine’ is a musical following a film director named Guido Contini (Javier Bardem), who is in his middle age. He is trying to complete his next film. His main problem is that he has too many women in his life. Luisa (Marion Cotillard), his wife, Carla (Penelope Cruz) his sexy mistress, and Claudia, his muse and protege.

Director: Rob Marshall
Writers: Federico Fellini, Ennio Flaiano

Columbus Prepare for ‘Public Enemies’

Set contractors are busy remodeling downtown Columbus, Wisconsin, for the movie ‘Public Enemies‘, which is expected to start shooting next week.

They’re making alterations to some stores to fit the movie about bank robber John Dillinger, starring Johnny Depp, Christian Bale and Oscar winner Marion Cotillard.

Director and University of Wisconsin grad Michael Mann said that Columbus has just the right history for the movie location.

There are more than 240 homes and businesses on the National Historic Registry. In fact, the entire downtown is a historic district.

NBC Universal plans to spend $20 million of the movie’s $150 million budget in Wisconsin.

Columbus Mayor Nancy Osterhous said that the local lumberyard, restaurants, hotels and other businesses are the beneficiaries of that spending.

Osterhous said that Columbus has plenty of snow cover, but she said that the movie makers will add some artificial snow to shoot the winter scenes.

Another filming location is the Milwaukee Historical Society, which once was a bank and still has a vintage vault.