DUMBEST IDEA EVER.
If these reports are correct, Baz Luhrmann is the biggest idiot ever. Evidently, he wants to remake The Great Gatsby in 3D. Yes. The Great Gatsby. 3D. The very idea makes me want to vomit. And that’s not it: Leonardo DiCaprio, who I really dislike, is playing Gatsby. Carey Mulligan is cast as Daisy. I have no idea who she is. Tobey Maguire is also in the cast; I’m guessing he’ll be Nick.
The Guardian cites some nice Tweets: “Baz Luhrmann, I will punch you in the face so hard, I swear your great-grandchildren will still feel the pain”; “Why not Arse-O-Vision too?” – or more reverently referential: “Baz Luhrmann’s Great Gatsby Might Be 3D … The green light burns in your lap ‘Sophisticated – God, I’m sophisticated’.”
The two movies I’ve seen for which Baz Luhrmann is responsible are Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge. I didn’t really mind either of them, and both were pretty to look at. Neither, of course, were 3D.
What I want to know is what value he sees in remaking a film of what is possibly The Great American Novel in 3D. First of all, I don’t see how a remake is called for. The one from the 60s with Robert Redford and Mia Farrow is perfectly good and not outdated. There is also no use for special effects in The Great Gatsby: no fancy technology, no dragons flying through the air, no dramatic age progressions, etc, etc. I also think that the audience will be limited. Sure, lots of high school students still read the novel, but I’ve never heard of one of them (English majors aside) who liked it. It’s in the same boat as The Scarlet Letter. But I could be wrong. It could be the next Avatar for all I know. Maybe Luhrmann is looking into making it into an action flick: imagine the car accident with a fancy 3D explosion! Oh whaaaaat!
I hate Luhrmann for even thinking up this idiotic idea.
