Growly 'Gladiator' star Russell Crowe and film director pal Ridley Scott are rumoured to have clashed on the set of new men in tights flick, 'Robin Hood'. Photo / AP
Growly 'Gladiator' star Russell Crowe and film director pal Ridley Scott are rumoured to have clashed on the set of new men in tights flick, 'Robin Hood'. Photo / AP
), and most importantly, rumours of a lingering and long running feud between Crowe and Scott.
Robin and his not so merry men...
Miller was subsequently replaced by Aussie actress
Cate Blanchet
and the medieval saga went into production earlier this year. But not before Crowe was reportedly told by producers to go on a crash diet to drop 35 pounds, because, "we can't have Robin Hood looking more like
another snitch imparted with this insightful, if somewhat scathing take on events: "It is a mess. Russell never lost the weight he put on for
Body of Lies
- and so the love scenes between him and Sienna would have been laughable. He's so old and fat and she's so young and gorgeous. It's just . . . gross."
Wicked whispers say that relations between Crowe, probably the moodiest man in movies, and Scott have recently reached an all-time low - they allegedly stopped talking to each other and opted for the silent treatment. Which probably complicated things somewhat, what with directing involving an element of tongue wagging and communicating with talent. We digress.
The apparent rows, which have previously been vehemently denied by Crowe's reps, have reportedly got so out of hand, producers had to "fly to London because Russell and Ridley won't talk to each other," a snitch told the
: "Ridley and Russell asked us to visit...to see more than an hour of footage they've already shot, which was nothing short of spectacular...We couldn't be more excited by what we saw. Russell and Ridley are working on their fifth film together and have one of the strongest and most collaborative working relationships. When it's news that a studio chairman and a film's producer [Brian Grazer] visit a production, it must be a very slow gossip day."
Well they would say that wouldn't they.
Clash of the thespian divas or not, Crowe has confirmed that movie bosses have tinkered with the film's title. Originally pegged as simply
as a title being well-known now, having been discussed for 18 months at the highest levels of press and marketing and stuff like that and it was a good - what they called a solid gold - name.
"And the question came up: But is it better than
Robin Hood
? And everybody just shook their head and said: No, it's not."
This latest gum flapping about Crowe and his diva-like ways reminds us of an anecdote we heard about the burly star when he graced the Empire awards in London this year.
Crowe was invited to attend the movie awards bash, to pick up his Actor of Our Lifetime gong, but was reportedly in no mood to be harangued by mere mortals. He allegedly forced organisers to halt the ceremony midway through - so he could pick up his award at the exact moment he arrived at the venue.
His driver was under strict instructions to park outside the London Grosvenor House hotel and wait for him as he ducked inside and bagged his prize - without being disturbed by other guests.
"He should have been handed a diva prize instead," a snitch said. "He had organisers clear the foyer of staff before he made his flash-in-the pan appearance.
"His blacked out waited outside. Russell was a nightmare for the event."
has reportedly managed to persuade three appeal judges to allow her to adopt three-year-old orphan
Mercy James
after all.
A snitch tells
The Sun
newspaper: "The paperwork is being typed up now. All recommendations are in favour of the adoption taking place. Mercy should start packing her bags. She's off to America."
. "He's popping pain killers and hoping it will all go away." A hip op would solve the problem, but seeing as the star became a Jehovah's Witness in 2001 (a religion which bars blood transfusion), he's unlikely to go under the knife anytime soon.
* Splitsville. Rumours are rife that on-again, off-again lovebirds
, a snitch says the pair are "taking time off for the time being, they've split," before adding, "It could just end up as a break but for now they're doing their own thing."
* Cobblers.
Whitney Houston
has trashed reports that she had banned journalists from asking about her well documented drug problems during promotion of her new album. Snitches revealed last week that Houston's people had vetoed any interviews with journos who said nay nay to not asking her about her substance abuse. Her rep now says, "(The reports are) premature. Nothing has been set."
