The Great Gatsby to be re-made in Sydney

Feb 19, 2011, 23:45 GMT

Sydney - Australian film director Baz Luhrmann will shoot the re-make of The Great Gatsby in Sydney rather than New York, where the 1925 novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald is set, news reports said Sunday.

Luhrmann signed a sponsorship deal with the New South Wales state government on Friday, the Daily Telegraph reported.

Leonardo DiCaprio will play Jay Gatsby and his leading lady will be British actress Carey Mulligan in the role of Daisy Buchanan.

It will be the first time DiCaprio and Luhrmann have worked together since they teamed up for 1996's Romeo+Juliet.

The Roaring Twenties tale has been shot six times, the most famous being the 1974 version directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Robert Redford and Mia Farrow.

Shooting of the Warner Bros film will begin in August at Sydney's Fox Studios.

Luhrmann needs a box-office hit after the disappointment of Australia, a big-budget film starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman that was panned by critics and avoided by cinema-goers.

Read more about Australia Cinema