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Confirmed: Penélope Cruz Cast in Lars von Trier's Melancholia

by Alex Billington
February 9, 2010
Source: Cineman.ch

It looks like the lovely Penélope Cruz wants a bit of time in the controversial von Trier spotlight after seeing Charlotte Gainsbourg steal her thunder in Cannes last year (Gainsbourg won the Best Actress award, Cruz did not). I just received a news tip from a Swiss reader who runs the site Cineman.ch. He was informing me that, somewhere in Germany, it was just announced that German director Lars von Trier cast Penélope Cruz is his next upcoming film called Melancholia. On their website, though, I can't find any sourcing details. While I do trust them, I need confirmation before I can call this anything than a rumor.

Melancholia was first announced last year. It's described as a "psychological drama-cum-disaster movie" about an enormous planet that looms threateningly close to Earth - but it's not an alien invasion movie. A translation of the article on Cineman.ch reveals that, remarkably, von Trier made this announcement right now because he wants to be able to have this film ready by Cannes. I'm not sure if he means this year or next, but damn, he better get to work. Then again, if it's another one or two-man show (like Antichrist), it would only take a few weeks to shoot. But we don't know anything about Melancholia, so it's hard to tell.

If this does turn out to be true, it will be quite interesting (to say the least) to see von Trier work with Cruz. So does this mean he'll make Cruz play a sex-addicted woman who ends up mutilating herself? Because if so, I might like to see that. I'm half-kidding, but the article does say that Cruz' role in this should be "edgy" (or "tranchant" in French). We will definitely let you know if this casting news is accurate or not - stay tuned!

Update: A number of European sites are reporting this news and our friends at The Playlist seem to think it's legit, too. I'm sure we'll see an official confirmation from someone in the US in the next few days. Unless we hear otherwise, though, this seems to be confirmed casting, Von Trier and Cruz? What a combo - can't wait to see what they come up with!

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Related categories: Casting, Movie News, Rumors