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Jodie Foster goes behind the camera again with this troubled and oft-delayed project. She has been very interested in making this movie for a long time and it looks like everything is finally falling into place.

The story is about a girl (Claire Danes) during the Great Depression of the 1930s who is really down on her luck and is taken in by a circus freak (Ewan McGregor). She begins a career in the circus, but matters are complicated when the freak falls in love with her.

To give you an idea how problematic it has been to get this film to this stage, production was originally scheduled to start in October 2000. Russell Crowe was then scheduled to be the male lead, but he dropped out when he injured his shoulder training for this film. Instead of coming back to this film, he made a brilliant career move and filmed A Beautiful Mind. Pretty smart, huh?

The film sat on the shelf for more than a year before Ewan McGregor signed on to take Crowe’s place. As is the case with many movies, cast changes (rumored and true) took place. Crowe was back on board at one point, and then McGregor was back. Meryl Streep was added to give the film some clout. The one constant throughout this process has been Claire Danes. But even in her case there were some difficulties. For the original production, she was going to take a year off from college to do the shooting.

Production is once again scheduled for spring 2004 on a reported budget of $24 million. It’s scheduled to be filmed mostly in Florida, specifically the Orlando area. (Marty Doskins/BOP)

Vital statistics for Flora Plum Main Cast Claire Danes, Ewan McGregor, Meryl Streep Director Jodie Foster Screenwriter Steven Rogers Distributor Focus Features Talent in red has entry in The Big Picture

Comparison films for Flora Plum
Title	Date	Opening	Adjusted Opening	Screens	PSA	Adj PSA	Total BO	Adjusted Total	Mult
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines	7/4/03	44.04	44.04	3504	12569.00	12569.0	150.35	150.35	2.77
Hours, The	1/17/03	4.64	4.64	402	11555.00	11555.0	41.60	41.60	8.15
Adaptation	1/10/03	2.64	2.64	560	4709.00	4709.0	22.50	22.50	6.04
Big Fish	12/12/03	0.21	0.21	6	34562.00	34562.0	66.26	66.26	0.00