Luhrmann Conquers All

The world and his wife seems to be scrabbling to get an Alexander The Great picture on track at the moment and the latest contender, one Baz Luhrmann, has been confirmed as odds-on favourite to get there first. Teaming up with producer Dino De Laurentiis, Luhrmann is planning to bring the Greek conqueror galloping to the screen with work scheduled to begin as early as January next year. Competition for the goal comes in the form of Oliver Stone, who has replaced would-be general Heath Ledger with Colin Farrell, and Martin Scorsese, who plans to put Leonardo DiCaprio at the head of the Grecian army. Luhrmann has a useful ally in the form of Mohammed VI; the current king of Morocco has offered his support to the project and has pledged 1,500 members of the Moroccan army to the director's banner. While the Moulin Rouge director might not seem the first choice to bring a military epic to the screen, Luhrmann has proven his worth at getting highly ambitious projects off the ground and you don't get much more ambitious than what could well become one of the most expensive films in history. "The poetry of the landscape, as well as the epic battles, will be the stars of the picture," Luhrmann told Variety of the film. Dying at the age of 32, Alexander The Great controlled more of the globe than has ever come under the control of a single man and is described by the director as "the world's first rock star... a fantastic freak of nature." No 'freak' has yet been chosen to lead Luhrmann's assault but, if Empire Online had anything to say about it we'd venture that Orlando Bloom wouldn't look out of place in this particular suit of armour.