Hot on the heels of Baz Luhrmann responding to the “Australia” controversy and its allegedly “changed” ending (frankly, the directors explanation – he didn’t even feel the need to “defend” it per se, sounds legit and like an organic process), comes the response from 20th Century Fox executives. Like we said, they’re almost moot at this point, but interesting to hear nonetheless.
Fox Co-Chairman Tom Rothman spoke to the L.A. Times blogger Patrick Goldstien.
“Everything in that story was patently nonsensical. It’s all too typical of the way the world works today that everybody picked up an unsourced, anonymous quote-filled story in a tabloid from Sydney and nobody ever bothered to check to see if it was accurate. The facts are–Baz is a final-cut director and we never pressured him in any way, shape or form. He wrote the movie, shot it and cut it all himself without any interference from us at all.”
Rothman’s story jives with Luhrmann’s and says the story, “had seven different endings at one time or another, none of them easily characterized as happy or sad.” The exec also says the current ending of the film is way less black and white than “happy” and or “sad.”
“But you couldn’t possibly characterize the ending as happy or sad. I’d call it deeply satisfying but that’s because it’s very complex. In fact, you could have a long conversation about whether it’s happy or sad, which is actually part of what makes it a great movie.”
Controversy over or effective damage control? You be the judge, but call us naive, we’re willing to side with Luhrmann/Fox here who both sound to be on the same page. God, either way, can you tell we’re dying to see “Australia”?