Baz Luhrmann is filming his new movie project, “Jehan Dark”, at Warner Bros. Studios.
Warner Bros. has confirmed that the director will take on the epic story of French national heroine and Saint Joan of Arc in her upcoming film. The teenage Joan of Arc became a heroine after leading the French army to victory at Orleans in 1429. She was burned at the stake in 1431.
Earlier this year, Luhrmann pulled out of the long-awaited English-language adaptation of the Russian novel “The Master and Margarita,” backing out of the project entirely after concerns over the book's rights.
An audition for the character of Joan of Arc will be held on Tuesday.
Luhrmann's directorial debut was in 1992 with Strictly Ballroom, which began as a short play at the Wharf Theatre in Sydney. The film's success led to a subsequent string of successful films including Romeo + Juliet (1996), Moulin Rouge! (2001), Australia (2008), The Great Gatsby (2013), and most recently Elvis.
During his film career, Luhrmann has also had success in opera (Puccini's “La Bohème” on Broadway in 2002), and short films/commercials such as “N°5 the Film” for Chanel N°5, starring Nicole Kidman and Rodrigo Santoro in 2004, and “The Secret Life of Flowers” for the Erdem x H&M collaboration.
He served as executive producer, writer and director of the Netflix series “The Get Down” (created in collaboration with playwright Stephen Adley-Georges), and has also done extensive work in music production, from the 1997 spoken word song “Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen)” to the soundtrack to “The Great Gatsby.”
The story of Joan of Arc has been told in film and on television several times, including “The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc” by Luc Besson and starring Milla Jovovich.
The story was first reported by Deadline.
