All things considered, it appears that upcoming thriller 'Jane Got a Gun' did not have the best start this week when the cast and crew gathered to start filming and found themselves... short of a director. Though there are conflicting reports as to WHY Lynne Ramsay - best known for last year's We Need to Talk about Kevin - failed to turn up, it is a fact that she wasn't on set as everyone was expecting - all this occurring after it was reported her lawyers were apparently trying to renegotiate her existing contract the previous weekend.
The good news is that Warrior and Pride and Glory helmer Gavin O'Connor (who also helmed the pilot for recent US hit series 'The Americans') looks ready to step in so that the new film doesn't waste time and money - with a new provisional start date of tomorrow, Thursday. Jane Got a Gun stars Natalie Portman (also in a producing role), Joel Edgerton and Rodrigo Santoro in the story of a woman who finds her bullet-ridden husband returning to the family homestead and, fearing, that his old gang are in pursuit and will attack her and her farm, seeks the help of an old flame (whom she hasn't seen in a decade) to help her defend the property.
Ramsay's sudden and dramatic eleventh (twelfth?) hour exit - for which she has yet to issue any official comment or reason - is just the latest in a series of problems that the independently-produced western thriller has had to navigate.
Michael Fassbender was originally down for the role of the ex-lover Dan Frost (with Edgerton playing Jane's injured husband), but had to pull out when production delays made the '...Gun' project clash with his existing commitments to the X-Men: Days of Future Past, which also starts shooting in the next few weeks. Edgerton is now essaying the role of the old flame with Jude Law cast in the main antagonist role.
Portman has just finished shooting on the Thor sequel which will be in cinemas next year.
UPDATE: MORE bad news... Losing a director is bad. Losing two talents in as many days... careless? Jude Law has now formally withdrawn from the film. Though no reasons were given, it is beleived he originally signed on because he wanted to work with Lynne Ramsay and so her departure may have affected his involvement. This surely has to mean further delays in filming.
