Jennifer Lopez at the 2006 Crystal and Lucy Awards - Century City, California (06/06/2006). Photo Credit: Fernando Allende/Splash News
The decision by Jennifer Lopez to quit the film Dallas intrigued a lot of industry watchers and fueled speculations on the health of the film which has seen frequent changes in its cast and crew. Lopez was to play the part of Ewing's alcoholic wife, Sue Ellen, with John Travolta playing the unscrupulous cowboy-hat wearing tycoon JR Ewing in the 20th Century production directed by ‘Bend it like Beckham’ director Gurinder Chaddha.
Though Lopez has been tight lipped about the reasons that prompted her to leave the project, PageSix, quoting an industry insider, reports that a sub par script and less-than-strapping John Travolta triggered the walk out. "The script sucks," said their source, "And John Travolta? If it had been a man's man like Ed Harris or Tommy Lee Jones . . . but you don't just go from doing 'Hairspray' to 'Dallas.' "
The film Hairspray, based on the similarly named Broadway production, is a musical comedy set for release in 2007 in which John Travolta plays the role of Edna Turnblad.
The film Dallas is based on the US television prime time soap that ran from 1978 to 1991. The serial dealt with love and betrayal among Texan oil magnates and was widely exported around the world. Australian Robert Luketic, who directed Lopez in "Monster-in-Law" and Reese Witherspoon in "Legally Blonde," was originally named as the director for the film but quit the project earlier this year citing "creative differences".
Jennifer Lopez is currently filming for Bordertown in which the singer plays a reporter from Chicago who travels to the Mexican border town of Juarez to investigate the unsolved killings of some 300 women over 13-year period.
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