If and when you ever see the big-screen adaptation of DALLAS, don't expect to see all the names first associated with the movie. Luke Wilson, Shirley MacLaine and Meg Ryan have all left the production, joining Jennifer Lopez who announced her departure in August. The only remaining player is John Travolta who will stay on to star as JR Ewing. The problem seemed to lie in the change of director - Gurinder Chadha (BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM) was hired to take over for Robert Luketic (LEGALLY BLONDE). That immediately prompted Lopez's departure and Chadha was never happy with the casting decisions made before her arrival. New Regency seems to be doing tons of market research on the film as tests indicated the only character anyone cared about was Travolta's Ewing. They're also increasingly concerned about the recognition factor of the prime-time soap that left the air 15-years ago among young adults and teens. New Regency is approaching the new vision of the movie with money on the mind and hoping to drastically reduce the original $65 million budget. This will also likely mean hiring a cast that skews younger and would draw in that teen audience. New Regency, who had the pic set up with Fox until the studio dropped out, is still hoping to recast the film quickly and begin shooting in January.
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2:24PM on 10/13/2006