Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe Under the Eucalyptus Trees
Posted on February 2, 2005
Fox Searchlight Pictures announced that production will begin February 7 on the film version of Eucalyptus, starring Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe. Eucalyptus is a New York Times Notable Book of the Year written by Murray Bail. The story is a fractured fairy tale, set in Australia. A lonely widower plants hundreds of eucalyptus trees in memory of his wife. He realizes that his beautiful daughter can't stay hidden in the eucalyptus forest forever and announces a competition: the man who can name all 800 eucalyptuses on his property, by sight, will win his daughter's hand in marriage. A botanist comes close to naming them all, but a storytelling stranger captures the daughter's heart. Of course, most of the press about the film right now centers on the fact that Ms. Kidman found listening devices planted in her home, which is really creepy. Most likely, it's the Australian papparazi, which has a reputation for being even worse than the British papparazi. Will Kidman wear tiny fake moles on her face, as the character had in the book? We hope that's one detail they decide to leave out.
