'Nine' to Star Bardem, Cruz, Zeta-Jones, Loren, Cotillard?

According to Variety, director Rob Marshall and Miramax's Harvey Weinstein have reportedly asked Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz and Marion Cotillard to star in their movie-adaptation of the musical Nine.

Bardem was offered the role of Guido Contini. Cotillard is in talks for the role of Louisa, Guido's wife; and Cruz as Guido's mistress, Carla. "Marshall, who wanted to set his cast early to custom-fit the roles to the strengths of each performer, is also courting Sophia Loren and his Chicago star Catherine Zeta-Jones," states Variety, "Marshall has made the four female roles enticing to many actresses with vocal and dancing ability."  Marshall will produce and choreograph with John DeLuca, his partner in Lucamar Prods.

Nine revolves around one central character, Guido Contini, a film director in the Fellini mold. He is contracted to write and direct a film, but is unable to come up with a suitable plot. After recent box office failures, he finds himself drifting towards a nervous breakdown. Guido finds himself examining his past flawed relationships with the many women who have come through his life and the struggle to act his mature age of 40 – as opposed to nine.

The film version is adapted by Oscar-nominated screenwriter and novelist Michael Tolkin, with original music and lyrics by Maury Yeston and original book by Arthur Kopit.  Kopit and Yeston are both executive producers of the up-coming film. Academy Award-winning director Marshall and Weinstein last worked together on Chicago via Miramax films.  Nine will be produced by Marshall and John DeLuca and choreograped by the pair, as well.

Bardem's many Spanish screen-credits include Goya's Ghosts and The Dancer Upstairs.  His latest film-projects are Love in the Time of Cholera and the Coen Brothers' No Country of Old Men, adapted from the Cormac McCarthy novel.  Cruz has appeared in Volver, Vanilla Sky, and Blow. Cruz and Bardem are currently working in Woody Allen's next film.  Cotillard made her break-through performance this summer as Edith Piaf in La Vie en Rose.

Nine, set in Venice, Italy in the 1960s, debuted on Broadway in 1982, and won several Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Direction (Tommy Tune), Best Original Score (Yeston), Best Featured Actress (Liliane Montevecchi), and Best Costumes (William Ivey Long).

The 2003 Tony Award-winning Best Revival featured Antonio Banderas and Chita Rivera, with Jane Krakowski (2003 Best Featured Actress in a Musical), Laura Benanti (The Wedding Singer) and Mary Stuart Masterson, among others.

Photos: Penelope Cruz (2007) by Retna Ltd; Javier Bardem by eonline.com