Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab...
I know they made a lot of noise about the talent search for the lead in MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA, the same way they are right now with SUPERMAN, but many times, that ends up being a publicity stunt. In the end, it’s a huge risk to go with a genuine unknown to carry a big-budget high-profile picture. In this case, it looks like Zhang Ziyi has been cast in the lead, as the all-knowing MonkeyPeaches predicted a while ago, and now the rest of the cast appears to have filled out with some other great Asian performers:
Hey-ho from sunny but not-too-warm England,
Today's Guardian newspaper is running a story announcing that Memoirs of a Geisha, the best-selling novel by Arthur Golden, will start shooting with a stellar-cast in September.
Under the direction of Chicago-helmer Rob Marshall, the film will apparently boast the strongest ever line-up of asian talent in a US movie with Zhang Ziyi, Michelle Yeoh, Ken Watanabe and Gong Li. Yeoh will play mentor to Ziyi's leading Sayuri with Watanabe as a wealthy business man.
This has been a pet-project of Spielberg's for some years now, although it was pretty clear he'd given up on directing it a while back now. He's co-producing and has given Marshall his whole-hearted backing. It must be quite a moment for Marshall when the Great Steve says "There's no one better [for this movie] than Rob Marshall."
Here's hoping he can follow his musical success with a solid drama - the cast should help him if nothing else!
Click the link for the story in full RIGHT HERE!!
England's poshest scooper,
Top Hat 'n' Tails
Thanks to everyone who forwarded us a similar link. There’s obviously a lot of attention on this one already, and Marshall’s going to have to deliver the goods. He’s certainly put the right cast together, if nothing else.
"Moriarty" out.
