Post by Talissa on Jan 12, 2005 8:17:43 GMT 11
From today's Sydney Morning Herald
Hugh Jackman has announced a lucrative film deal with Walt Disney studios that could make him the Fred Astaire or Gene Kelly of the new millennium.
The multi-movie deal will create musical films for Jackman to star in.
He will also take a producing role in the projects, which could include remakes of some Hollywood musical classics.
"As an art form, the musical is Mount Everest," Jackman told Hollywood trade magazine Variety.
"Tough to pull off, but exhilarating and timeless when it works. And when it is done badly, it stinks to high heaven."
Jackman, a star on stage in London's West End in the musical Oklahoma! and on New York's Broadway in The Boy From Oz, has also forged a successful movie career in Hollywood with the X-Men films and last year's Van Helsing.
The deal was hatched after Disney executives - Dick Cook and Nina Jacobson - saw Jackman in his Tony Award winning role as Peter Allen in The Boy From Oz.
"I went to see The Boy From Oz because Hugh was the only person I knew personally who could sing and dance, and I left thinking, 'How can we not try to find movies that capture these singing and dancing abilities and that charisma?'," Jacobson said.
"Dick and I are very gonzo about this. We are hoping writers and directors will come forward with ideas."
Musicals, led by Moulin Rouge and Chicago, have returned to favour in Hollywood.
"I'm lucky that at the time my career in movies was building, the movie musicals genre that had been in the desert for 20 years started to come back," Jackman said.
Under the deal, Disney will develop as many as three projects at the same time for Jackman. The projects could include a remake of a Hollywood classic, although the 36-year-old Sydney-born actor is a bit nervous about that.
"There might be a classic out there that can be redone and find an audience, but I am personally more interested in finding something new," Jackman said.
Jackman is also following the footsteps of some of Hollywood's most powerful actors in forming his own production company.
It is a move that gives him more control with his projects.
His partners in the company include John Palermo, Jackman's assistant on Van Helsing. Executive producers of the Oscar-winning Chicago, Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, have also been recruited.
Jackman and Palermo will help produce the third X-Men film, which Jackman will again star in with his Wolverine character.
Also on the radar is a Wolverine spin-off film.
Hugh Jackman has announced a lucrative film deal with Walt Disney studios that could make him the Fred Astaire or Gene Kelly of the new millennium.
The multi-movie deal will create musical films for Jackman to star in.
He will also take a producing role in the projects, which could include remakes of some Hollywood musical classics.
"As an art form, the musical is Mount Everest," Jackman told Hollywood trade magazine Variety.
"Tough to pull off, but exhilarating and timeless when it works. And when it is done badly, it stinks to high heaven."
Jackman, a star on stage in London's West End in the musical Oklahoma! and on New York's Broadway in The Boy From Oz, has also forged a successful movie career in Hollywood with the X-Men films and last year's Van Helsing.
The deal was hatched after Disney executives - Dick Cook and Nina Jacobson - saw Jackman in his Tony Award winning role as Peter Allen in The Boy From Oz.
"I went to see The Boy From Oz because Hugh was the only person I knew personally who could sing and dance, and I left thinking, 'How can we not try to find movies that capture these singing and dancing abilities and that charisma?'," Jacobson said.
"Dick and I are very gonzo about this. We are hoping writers and directors will come forward with ideas."
Musicals, led by Moulin Rouge and Chicago, have returned to favour in Hollywood.
"I'm lucky that at the time my career in movies was building, the movie musicals genre that had been in the desert for 20 years started to come back," Jackman said.
Under the deal, Disney will develop as many as three projects at the same time for Jackman. The projects could include a remake of a Hollywood classic, although the 36-year-old Sydney-born actor is a bit nervous about that.
"There might be a classic out there that can be redone and find an audience, but I am personally more interested in finding something new," Jackman said.
Jackman is also following the footsteps of some of Hollywood's most powerful actors in forming his own production company.
It is a move that gives him more control with his projects.
His partners in the company include John Palermo, Jackman's assistant on Van Helsing. Executive producers of the Oscar-winning Chicago, Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, have also been recruited.
Jackman and Palermo will help produce the third X-Men film, which Jackman will again star in with his Wolverine character.
Also on the radar is a Wolverine spin-off film.
