Eucalyptus: The Story Behind the Story
Sunday February 13, 2005
The story behind the aborted filming of the Australian production, Eucalyptus, for which so many had so much hope, could be the subject of another movie, or another book. The set, a farmhouse in the New South Wales town of Bellingen, had been constructed. The actors, Oscar winners Russell Crowe (Gladiator) and Nicole Kidman (The Hours) had set aside time from their busy schedules. Cameras and crew were ready. And just before shooting began, the whole project was off...
What happened?
It is difficult to know exactly. Officially, script "shortcomings" were blamed. The Bellingen farmhouse set has now been covered with tarpaulin, apparently in an attempt to keep it intact. And it's said filming could actually begin, perhaps later in the year.
In the meantime, life in Bellingen has been sadly disrupted. Hotels, motels, houses booked for the actors and crew were not going to be occupied. Bellingen residents who had leased their homes and made alternative arrangements have been left hanging. Crew members who could have accepted work on productions such as the new Superman movie being filmed in Australia, but opted for Eucalyptus, were now going to be jobless. The list of disappointments go on and on with disastrously rippling effect.
What happened?
The past year, 2004, wasn't quite a good year for Australian movies. Even Somersault, which won all the Australian Film Institute (AFI) Awards for the year in the film category, failed to make the necessary dent in the box office. Other Australian films, and there were a few, fared poorly at the box office as well.
It was not a year such as those enjoyed in 2003 by Lantana (with Anthony LaPaglia and Kerry Armstrong) and in earlier periods by Mad Max (with a young Mel Gibson), Crocodile Dundee (with Paul Hogan), Priscilla Queen of the Desert (with an ensemble cast including Hugo Weaving, Guy Pearce and Terence Stamp) and Muriel's Wedding (with Toni Collette and Rachel Griffiths).
Eucalyptus was the film that was to lift Australian film making out of the doldrums. It had Australia's biggest stars and Jocelyn Moorhouse, who directed a much younger Russell Crowe in the critically-acclaimed film, Proof, was back on deck. Another Oscar winner, Geoffrey Rush (Shine), was also planned to be in the film but couldn't make it due to other film commitments.
Reports were that megastars Crowe and Kidman took hefty pay cuts just to be in Eucalyptus. It was the film they wanted to be part of.
What happened?
The set had been built, and filming was due to start, finally, in early February, following an earlier postponement. Then the rains came, reportedly causing some damage to the built set. Filming was held off for a week.
On February 11, the bombshell came. Filming of Eucalyptus was being indefinitely postponed. In moviespeak, this could mean the film was not going into production as planned, not later in the year, perhaps not ever.
The story coming out of the whole schemozzle was that of a conflict of egos and difficulties with the stars. Screenwriters on Gladiator were reported to have spoken of Crowe's "unhappiness" with the Gladiator script. It seemed a miracle Gladiator ever became the movie it was.
Was the same thing happening on Eucalyptus? Was Crowe unhappy not only with the script but with director Moorhouse herself? Did Crowe want to be the film's director?
Crowe is executive producer of the Eucalyptus film. If he was unhappy with some aspect of the production, certainly he had all the right, as executive producer, to stop the filming of Eucalyptus.
Lights, camera ... but no action - The Daily Telegraph
What happened?
It is difficult to know exactly. Officially, script "shortcomings" were blamed. The Bellingen farmhouse set has now been covered with tarpaulin, apparently in an attempt to keep it intact. And it's said filming could actually begin, perhaps later in the year.
In the meantime, life in Bellingen has been sadly disrupted. Hotels, motels, houses booked for the actors and crew were not going to be occupied. Bellingen residents who had leased their homes and made alternative arrangements have been left hanging. Crew members who could have accepted work on productions such as the new Superman movie being filmed in Australia, but opted for Eucalyptus, were now going to be jobless. The list of disappointments go on and on with disastrously rippling effect.
What happened?
The past year, 2004, wasn't quite a good year for Australian movies. Even Somersault, which won all the Australian Film Institute (AFI) Awards for the year in the film category, failed to make the necessary dent in the box office. Other Australian films, and there were a few, fared poorly at the box office as well.
It was not a year such as those enjoyed in 2003 by Lantana (with Anthony LaPaglia and Kerry Armstrong) and in earlier periods by Mad Max (with a young Mel Gibson), Crocodile Dundee (with Paul Hogan), Priscilla Queen of the Desert (with an ensemble cast including Hugo Weaving, Guy Pearce and Terence Stamp) and Muriel's Wedding (with Toni Collette and Rachel Griffiths).
Eucalyptus was the film that was to lift Australian film making out of the doldrums. It had Australia's biggest stars and Jocelyn Moorhouse, who directed a much younger Russell Crowe in the critically-acclaimed film, Proof, was back on deck. Another Oscar winner, Geoffrey Rush (Shine), was also planned to be in the film but couldn't make it due to other film commitments.
Reports were that megastars Crowe and Kidman took hefty pay cuts just to be in Eucalyptus. It was the film they wanted to be part of.
What happened?
The set had been built, and filming was due to start, finally, in early February, following an earlier postponement. Then the rains came, reportedly causing some damage to the built set. Filming was held off for a week.
On February 11, the bombshell came. Filming of Eucalyptus was being indefinitely postponed. In moviespeak, this could mean the film was not going into production as planned, not later in the year, perhaps not ever.
The story coming out of the whole schemozzle was that of a conflict of egos and difficulties with the stars. Screenwriters on Gladiator were reported to have spoken of Crowe's "unhappiness" with the Gladiator script. It seemed a miracle Gladiator ever became the movie it was.
Was the same thing happening on Eucalyptus? Was Crowe unhappy not only with the script but with director Moorhouse herself? Did Crowe want to be the film's director?
Crowe is executive producer of the Eucalyptus film. If he was unhappy with some aspect of the production, certainly he had all the right, as executive producer, to stop the filming of Eucalyptus.
Lights, camera ... but no action - The Daily Telegraph
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