Oscar winners Nicole Kidman and Judi Dench are talking about joining the cast of “Nine,” which include Javier Bardem (Oscar Winner), Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard (Oscar Winner) and Sophia Loren (Oscar Winner) in Rob Marshall’s adaptation of the Tony-winning Broadway musical.The 1982 show is adaptation of Federico Fellini’s autobiographical opus “8 1/2,” revolves around a film director (Bardem) juggling the demands of several women in his life.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Kidman is due to give birth in the summer, giving her several months of maternity leave before the film’s proposed start date. Her filming also might be scheduled in the latter part of the shoot.

Plenty of people are familiar with Kidman’s singing and dancing chops from “Moulin Rouge,” but far fewer are aware of Dench’s extensive musical theater experience. She played Sally Bowles in the original London production of “Cabaret” in 1968; I would have loved to have seen that performance, and won the 1995 Olivier Award for best actress in a musical in a revival of Stephen Sondheim’s “A Little Night Music.”

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