Hugh Jackman has agreed to star alongside Nicole Kidman in Moulin Rouge director Baz Luhrmann's next film. Jackman is replacing Russell Crowe, who is no longer involved with the project. Jackman, one of the most in-demand actors at the moment, is enjoying the success of his third X-Men film and can be seen soon in The Fountain, directed by Darren Aronofsky. He will also star in the next Woody Allen project, Scoop. The Baz Luhrmann film, which is set in northern Australia prior to World War II, centers on an English aristocrat (Kidman) who inherits a ranch the size of Maryland. When English cattle barons plot to take her land, she reluctantly joins forces with a rough-hewn cattle driver (Jackman) to drive 2,000 head of cattle across hundreds of miles of the country's most unforgiving land, in war-time conditions. The film begins pre-production October 2006 and production will start in Australia in February 2007. A third lead, a dark rival for the heroine's love and land, will be announced soon.
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