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EXCLUSIVE: Ben Affleck is in talks to play the role of Tom Buchanan in The Great Gatsby, the Baz Luhrmann-directed 3D adaptation of the F. Scott Fitzgerald literary classic at Warner Bros. Now, Affleck will have to work to fit this in. After starring in and directing The Town, he’s prepping to direct Argo, a film about the 1979 Iran hostage crisis. But signs point toward him making time in his schedule to join Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire and Carey Mulligan in Gatsby. Both projects are at Warner Bros.
Tom Buchanan is the husband of Daisy (Mulligan), in a role originated by Bruce Dern in the 1974 film. DiCaprio plays Jay Gatsby (Robert Redford starred in the original) and Maguire plays Nick Carraway (Sam Waterston in the 1974 pic). Luhrmann, who wrote the script with Craig Pearce, is still in the process of setting the roles of Jordan Baker (originated by Lois Chiles), the gas station owner George Wilson (Scott Wilson) and his wife Myrtle (played by Karen Black in the original). Tom is having an affair with Myrtle, and they all play a role in a tragedy.
Luhrmann, Catherine Martin and Catherine Knapman of Luhrmann/Bazmark Films will produce with Red Wagon partners Doug Wick and Lucy Fisher. G Mac Brown will also produce. WME reps Affleck.
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Still don’t understand why on earth this would be in 3D. Here’s hoping the cast is working for scale. I’d imagine it will be like the rest of the Baz flicks. Box office dud in the states but make it’s number overseas. Although I suppose I answered my original complaint. Big stars and 3D makes it easier to swallow a project that seems like it would be a better fit at HBO.
Luhrmann has always made his films stylish and visually extravagant. I’m sure he felt 3D was just the next logical step for him, and I for one am interested to see his approach.
The 3D thing seems like a joke. I could MAYBE have envisioned it with Romeo and Juliet or Moulin Rouge, but WTF are they thinking here? I seriously hope The Great Gatsby isn’t as stylized and frenetic as R+J or MR. Especially with such a high-caliber cast.
In my opinion the syle of R+J and MR is entirely befitting of a story set in the ‘Jazz Age’ of neverending partys, and the wild unleashment of the human spirit at Gatsby’s Mansion….
Meh. The Great Gatsby is a masterpiece and a classic – books on that level of quality and recognition have always had room for a wide variety of interpretations. Gatsby lends itself well here – the contrasting settings (i.e Gatsby’s garish extravagance, the desolation of the Valley of Ashes etc). Not to mention the extremes and vast variety of characterisation in the novel and most importantly the dependance on setting…
Huh. I just convinced myself 3D’s a good move.
You go Luhrmann!
Fair play to Ben Affleck, although I was hoping for Bradley Cooper to land the role.
What’s with this article describing the 1974 adaptation as “the original”, with roles “originated by” the 1974 actors? GATSBY’s been filmed a few times before the 1974 version.
I’d be good with Bradley Cooper.
Maybe this article describes 74′s Gatsby as the “original” because it’s ONLY Gatsby film that MATTERS.
Bradley Cooper yes. Jake Gyllenhall yes. Ben Affleck? Gross. Just gross. I was hoping he’d given up being in front of the camera.
The Great Gatsby was filmed twice before the shitty Redford-Farrow version, so Bruce Dern et al. didn’t actually originate any of the roles.
I like Cooper, and don’t think casting him would have been awful, but I think Affleck is a little bit better choice. Cooper’s real age is right, but he projects a little too bright and boyish for Buchanan, while Affleck has more of that coarse, aging football/wrestler look to him.
There’s supposed to be a 1949 version of Gatsby starring Alan Ladd, but I don’t know if it’s available anywhere…
Affleck is making some very smart choices these days. I hear Argo is good, and Replay is the best script I’ve read in a long time. He’s on a roll. Doesn’t hurt that he’s HOT!
Doesn’t hurt a damn bit. In fact that scene of his ripped torso was far too short for this fan. I loved “The Town” and support all things Affleck, so thumbs up with this casting.
Did you support Gigli and Jersey Girl? I hope not.
When I was younger I was really a fan of F. Scott Fitzgerald. I would love to be part of this. Guys, ….just do a good job.
Noooo! Tom Hardy should play Tom.
What next? Doing a 3D remake of Schindler’s List? The Great Gatsby simply does NOT call for 3D.
I agree. Was my favorite book growing up and I wish more than anything I was playing daisy
:( Really hoping they don’t screw this up, which I highly doubt they will. Leo can’t screw anything up.
i hear this film will also have animation and some new original music numbers written by Bono & The Edge.
SO wrong. Nothing against Affleck, but he’s far better as a director than actor.
The casting for this is so terrible overall. Tobey Maguire as Nick?
Agreed. This feels like a high school play where kids play grownups.
Leo and Tobey are too soft.
Affleck is a steakhead.
Cooper doesn’t have that “to the manor born” thing that Affleck may be able to pull off. I really like Carey Mulligan and know she’s very talented but she’s got a natural melancholy that I’m not sure will translate well for Daisy B, an effervescent creature who inspired a life-long obsession.
Graceful DiCaprio and wide-eyed Maguire are perfect casting IMO.
I hope this is good.
I re-wrote the last chapter for a high school project. A lot more killed off in the end. What do you expect for high school.
It’s a great story. Attend Brown University’s summer alumni event to get a taste. All alums invited, get dressed up, various bands playing throughout the campus (jazz, rock, classical) and candle-lite throughout.
SERIOUSLY???????? what a joke!! Cant act-yes-even in “The Town”-be stiffer and posier!!!
Don’t forget that this movie was already made last year starring Vincent Chase with Martin Scorsese directing.
I like this, a lot. I just reread the book recently and think DiCaprio and Affleck are a great match for these roles. Affleck is really getting good advice these days.
3D ? Gatsby ? I hope this fails so the schmucks who made this decision are run out of town
I am so not impressed by these choices.
Bradley Cooper is a terrible pick. He doesn’t seem athletic or old boys club I am sorry but he always plays that douchey character (a la Wedding Crashers) who doesn’t listen to the beautiful woman in his life.
And Affleck? Really, after all this time trying to seem like he’s from Southie or something? He definitely looks and feels like the guy who gets invited to the party last minute NOT the host. Not the guy in the letter sweater. No thanks.
Please, neither of these two guys can play to the manor born.
Bradley Cooper doesn’t seem athletic or old boys club one bit… but he always plays that douchey character (a la Wedding Crashers) who doesn’t listen to the beautiful woman in his life.
And Affleck? Really, after all this time trying to seem like he’s from Southie or something? He definitely looks and feels like the guy who gets invited to the party last minute NOT the host. Not the guy in the letter sweater. He playz basketball not squash. No thanks.
Tom Hardy would be great, but he’s better looking than DiCaprio (that brow is becoming something), so that might pose a problem.
his latest hairpiece is looking okay
Perfect casting thus far. Perfect.
The casting for this is all wrong. DiCaprio – great. You can’t go wrong with him. But, Affleck? Really? Honestly, when is he – and everyone else – going to realize that he excels at comedy. This performance is going to come off as phony, at best. Like all of his dramatic roles, when he has to put any amount of heart and authenticity into a performance – when it’s on the line and he really has to SELL it – he falls short.
He’s been part of some truly great movies, but his roles were not what made those movies great. And I don’t like saying this because he seems like a very likable guy, but as an audience participant, you cannot deny the fact that when you watch him dramatically act, you are very much aware that he is, in fact, acting. The same just cannot be said of DiCaprio. Frankly, I don’t know how anyone, in good conscience, could advise him to take a role against Leonardo DiCaprio at this stage in his career. It will only emphasize the degree of difference in their caliber of acting.
Affleck’s comedic performances are another story. He is tremendously funny, and always sells it in those roles. It’s a shame there are so few of them.
For Tom: Maybe Jon Hamm or Henry Cavill.
As for Carey Mulligan, this movie would do much better with a flashier leading actress and one who is, perhaps, not so emotionally heavy. Plus, she’s cute, but her looks just do not radiate at a level that fits with the obsession that is the basis for this entire story.
“This performance is going to come off as phony, at best”.
That’s why he seems such a perfect choice for the role. Tom is a huge phoney, someone willing to allow others to take the blame for his and his family’s sins because of his sense of entitlement and smugness. Whilst Gatsby is a crook, his emotions are real and his investment in Daisy is far more genuine than Tom will ever feel.
Affleck – a strong writer and director – is a relatively likeable actor who seems so often as glib and phoney in more emotional moments eg in Chasing Amy, his crocodile tears and forced emotion undercuts the last part of that film. Compared to other actors of his generation like Damon, DiCaprio and Norton he seems to rest too easily on stock expressions instead of trying to craft a fully realised and original characterisation: the smirk, for instance. Affleck will be able to suggest that sense of dislocation and entitlement nicely given the ‘fakeness’ of his on-screen emoting.
I think Affleck is a really good choice. Still can’t imagine Carey Mulligan as the unattainable golden girl, though.
ps, Scott123 – Read Fitzgerald now and I bet you’ll appreciate him even more.
This casting is such crap all the way down the line. You have Affleck, DiCaprio, and Maguire (who would’ve been a terrible choice even when he was the right age) playing roles they’re much too old for, and then Mulligan, the only one in the right age range, but who is wrong for the role in so many other respects.
I think Maguire looks 30, and DiCaprio could look 30 easily, Affleck, with some makeup could also look 30. And I don’t know why everybody says Mulligan is not beautiful enough for Daisy, I don’t remember Daisy being very beautiful, is it really in the book?
I wanted Hugh Jackman as Tom Buchanan.
Good call.