Thursday, April 5, 2007

Pope Joan and John

Franka Potente’s turn as Pope Joan, directed by Volker Schlondorff, may be toppled with the departure of John Goodman from the planned cast. A lawsuit has since ensued by the producers claiming Goodman reneged on his agreement to star as Pope
The $3 million suit was filed by German company Constantin Film Produktion. The company claims Goodman agreed to $500,000 for the role, but his representatives say, while it was discussed, no agreement was ever reached. Constantin sues claiming it escalated the production schedule to accommodate Goodman and committed resources to the project, which have now been lost.
Pope Joan surrounds the legend of a woman who disguised herself as a man and became pope in the Ninth Century AD. A 1972 version of the film starred Liv Ullman.
Potente’s performance as Vera Less can be seen in the upcoming film Eichmann, which was shot at the new Stern Studios in Budapest. American audiences are familiar with Potente from Bourne Supremacy, Bourne Identity and Run Lola Run. She has five films in preproduction.