Cate to star in 'Hanna' with Saoirse Ronan and Eric Bana?

A new movie rumor has popped up at the forums, as reported by Variety.

"Cate Blanchett is joining Saoirse Ronan and Eric Bana in the Joe Wright-directed thriller Hanna at Focus Features. The film centers on a 14-year-old Eastern European girl who has been raised by her father to be a cold-blooded killing machine. She connects with a French family, forms a friendship with their daughter and goes through the pangs of adolescence. When the girl is dragged back to her father's world and discovers that she was bred as a killing machine in a CIA prison camp, she must fight her way to a free life."

The Playlist provides more insight on the parts and the casting:

"The film stars Saoirse Ronan as a teenage girl raised as a lethal killing machine by her ex-CIA operative father played by Eric Bana. DHD doesn't say who Blanchett will play, but having read the script, a sort of "La Femme Nikita" meets "Bourne" full throttle actioner by Seth Lochhead and David Farr, we can say without question it's the role of Maria, the central villain, a high-level CIA agent chasing down Hanna, who knows her father's methods all too well from their past history and work together in the field."

The script for 'Hanna' was listed on the 2009 Black List, an annual list of the best unproduced screenplays of the year. Rumor has it Danny Boyle and Seth Lochhead were attached as part contributing writers in early 2009, before eventually leaving the project. This is the second movie rumor involving director Joe Wright, whom Cate was set to work with on 'Indian Summer', a project which was cancelled late last year due to, amongst other things, budgetary issues.

Thanks Daisy Button and Blaze78 for the heads up!

Robin Hood trailer

The first 'Robin Hood' trailer has hit the web! Click below to have a look!

Production of "Indian Summer" halted

The rumours had floated around online for a while, but now both "Variety" and the BBC also report that the production has been put on a break for "Indian Summer".

According to Variety, the main reasons for this were of a financial nature, with Universal Pictures unwilling to invest a larger sum of money into what they deemed a risky project.
While director Joe Wright at first considered shooting on a smaller budged, the ongoing creative differences between the producers and the Indian government finally stopped the development for good.

Supposedly, both the director and Cate will remain attached to the project until further notice.

Read the full Variety article and the BBC news.

First Glimpse of Cate as "Maid Marian"

On Monday, October 12, Entertainment Tonight is going to feature a special on Ridley Scott's upcoming "Robin Hood", with Russell Crowe as Robin Hood and Cate as Marian.

Thanks to "Daisy Button" from the forums for the notification!

News on "Indian Summer"

Despite recent reports that made it seem as if Cate's upcoming project "Indian Summer" (about the last days of British colonialism in India in the summer of 1947) was going to get cancelled, more recent news sound fairly optimistic that the film is still going to be shot: even though Indian government officials want to see any explicitly romantic scenes between Cate's character, Lady Edwina Mountbatten, and India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru - who are rumoured to have had an affair with each other - removed and will have to okay the film before release, the movie seems to be back on track and development continues.

There are also more names attached to project now: apart from Cate as Lady Edwina Mountbatten, Hugh Grant is said to star as the last viceroy in India, Lord Louis Mountbatten, while Irrfan Khan, best known to a Western audience for his roles in "A Mighty Heart", "The Darjeeling Limited" and "Slumdog Millionaire", has his name attached to the role of Nehru.

The release date is still aimed at 2011 and shooting is said to start early next year. Shooting locations will be Delhi, Punjab, Jammu-Kashmir and others.

Of course, we will keep you updated on any developments concerning this project.

Plug pulled on 'Indian Summer'?

Unfortunately, rumor has it that Cate's upcoming project 'Indian Summer', in which she was set to portray Lady Edwina Mountbatten, has been scratched because of problems with funding. In a short article on 'Summer' director Joe Wright, the following was said:

"Wright told me how he had spent nine months working on the film, doing extensive pre-production in the UK and India, and that he had assembled his regular award-winning team of designers and key crew. 'But it won't be my next film now; I'll do something else. There are other projects.' He said he couldn't be 100 per cent certain that he would return to Indian Summer.

Movies are often worked on for months, sometimes years, in preproduction and, for whatever reason, the cameras never roll. In this case, one reason cited for the picture being abandoned was Indian government officials' upset over the nature of the script. However, I suspect it's more to do with movie studios' reluctance to finance 'in betweens': movies that aren't tiny and aren't blockbusters. They're always the most difficult to find funding for. "
Source.

We'll keep you posted on any news regarding 'Indian Summer', but its future looks pretty bleak right now.

'Indian Summer' confirmed

Well, that was a short period of rumor status for 'Indian Summer'. Variety has confirmed that Cate is set to play the part, as can be read after the read more.

Fresh from a Nottingham spring spent frolicking in the forests of Sherwood, Cate Blanchett has signed up for Indian Summer, Joe Wright's period drama set in the turbulent, bloody final days of the British Empire.

Set in 1947, Indian Summer sees Blanchett play Lady Edwina Mountbatten, wife of Lord Mountbatten's Viceroy of India, who helps her husband oversee the handover of power in the country to Jawaharlal Nehru. To say that this didn't go well would be understating things, with the country pitched into an unprecedented period of bloodshed and disorder. Gladiator writer William Nicholson is adapting the story from Alex von Tunzelmann's book.

Blanchett rarely makes a misstep when picking her roles and she'll have plenty to get her teeth into as Lady Edwina. With an acute intelligence, hard-partying socialite lifestyle and a string of affairs, Edwina achieved fame and notoriety in her lifetime, but also went on to make a significant contribution to post-Partition India.

Covering some of the same end-of-Empire themes as Atonement, albeit on the subcontinent rather than mainland Europe, Indian Summer has an ambitious, David Lean-y feel to it. No word yet on who will play Lord Mountbatten, so here's your chance to post your tips below... (Clue: he's got to be in his late 40s)

As previously reported, shooting is set to start in 2010.

Cate to star in 'Indian Summer'?

Variety.com reports that Cate is set to play the part of Lady Edwina Mountbatten in "Indian Summer" next year. Below is an except from the article.

Working Title has confirmed that it is developing a third installment of the "Bridget Jones" series starring Renee Zellweger. The British producer has also attached Cate Blanchett to star in helmer Joe Wright's "Indian Summer."

Blanchett will star as Lady Edwina Mountbatten in "Indian Summer," based on the book of the same name by Alex von Tunzelmann, about the last days of Britain's colonial rule of India in 1947.

As previously announced, Fellner and Bevan will produce alongside Hilary Bevan Jones. William Nicholson ("Gladiator") is penning the screenplay. Lensing is set to begin next year.

Ponyo trailer

Cate voices the character 'Granmamare' in the upcoming Hayao Miyazaki animation movie 'Ponyo on the Cliff'. The trailer was released today, watch it below! You can see the character and hear Cate's voice at about 0:55.

Cate not in "Fantastic Mr Fox"

Contrary to earlier information, Cate will not lend her voice to Wes Anderson's animated film "Fantastic Mr Fox," which is based on Roald Dahl's book of the same title and currently scheduled for a release in November 2009 . Instead, Meryl Streep will supply the lines of Mrs Fox, alongside George Clooney as Mr Fox, Owen Wilson, Bill Murray, Anjelica Houston and others.