Hugh Jackman Drops Out of 3D Musical ‘Cleo’

As anticipation for “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” the spinoff of the successful franchise of “X-Men” movies, is mounting, Aussie Hugh Jackman is again in the spotlight. However, this time, this is not about something that he’ll do, but rather the contrary, as buzz in the industry has it that the star has just dropped out of discussions for the main part in the 3D musical “Cleo.”  

Apparently, Jackman, whom we can now see in Baz Luhrmann’s “Australia,” opposite Nicole Kidman, was supposed to play the part of Marc Anthony in “Cleo,” a Steven Soderbergh project having Catherine Zeta Jones as the beautiful Cleopatra. Although nothing was ever made official, word in the media had it that Jackman’s involvement in the flick was almost a certainty, with speculation that he would start shooting scenes for it perhaps as early as spring this year.

As it turns out, the Wolverine star canceled all talks before any conclusion was reached on the grounds of scheduling conflicts. James Purefoy, who played Marc Anthony in the bold and highly controversial BBC/HBO television series “Rome,” and who earned rave reviews because of his performance, is rumored to be next up in the preference list after Jackman.

Another “Cleo” related rumor has it that British Ray Winstone is in talks to play the great Julius Cesar. With all this, the presumed $30 million ambitious project is yet to score a financing deal, while, to cap it all off, nothing even close to official related to it has yet been made public.

In the meanwhile, Hugh Jackman, who has recently been named the hottest man for 2008, is working on “Guardians of Ga'Hoole,” scheduled for release in 2010 and in which he only lends his voice. “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” is set to hit theaters in May 2009, and with the trailer online and the promo campaign underway, it is already causing major waves.