Action western Jane Got a Gun, starring Natalie Portman, has had so many casting and directing change-overs that one feared it would never hit the big screen. Michael Fassbender was originally attached to star as Jane’s ex-lover Dan Frost, but had to leave to film X-Men: Days of Future Past. Joel Edgerton was cast as another character but then replaced Fassbender and director Lynne Ramsay then cast Jude Law as Edgerton’s replacement. Still with us?
One week later, just as production was about to start, Ramsay left, as did Law and cinematographer Darius Khondji. Director Gavin O’Connor (Warrior) replaced Ramsay and Bradley Cooper replaced Law early last spring. One month later, Cooper dropped out to finish American Hustle and Ewan McGregor came onto the project, becoming the fourth actor to take the part of John Bishop.
Oh, and to make matters ever crazier, the film’s producers sued Ramsay, explaining that she was “abusive” to the cast and crew before her firing. According to the suit, she “failed to adhere to proper safety protocol for handling weapons on set… she pointed a prop gun directly at a camera and, in turn, at the camera crew before first taking proper precautions.” (Maybe Ramsay Got a Gun would have been a more appropriate title…)
According to The Playlist, the film now has a release date. Audiences can finally check out the oft-delayed project on August 29, 2014. Jane Got a Gun takes the Labor Day weekend release date assigned to other adult-aimed dramas in the past like Lawless, The American and The Constant Gardener. Let’s hope that the film, which has nothing to do with Aerosmith’s 1989 hit “Janie’s Got a Gun,” is not as convoluted and long-winded as the casting mishaps that beset the production.
Jane Got a Gun stars Portman as Jane Hammond, a nice girl married to gang leader Bill (Noah Emmerich). When Bill turns against his own gang, led by the unruly John Bishop (Ewan McGregor), and they injure him severely, she decides to seek retribution.
For the many of us who love The Professional, it is hard not to be excited for another Natalie Portman-led revenge tale. Couple that with the fact that Jane Got a Gun marks Gavin O’Connor’s first film since the under-appreciated Warrior, and you have a pretty promising sounding flick, even despite its production troubles.
I know what I’m doing next Labor Day weekend, do you?
