Hugh Jackman In All-Singing, All-Dancing Carousel Remake

It's been a rough week for Australian actors, what with Mel Gibson alienating both the Jewish and sugar-titted communities and Stefan Dennis from Neighbours being reminded about Don't It Make You Feel Good once every eight or nine seconds.

But there's one Australian actor who we can always count on to cheer us up with some energetic - if occasionally full-on creepy - toothy grins, tight trousers, frilly blouses, high-kicking and carefree renditions of 60-year-old Rogers And Hammerstein musicals. Step forward Hugh Jackman, and bring your remake of Carousel with you.

To millions of moviegoers around the world, Hugh Jackman is Wolverine - the shit-haired, metal-clawed mutant from the X-Men films - but that's doing him a great disservice. In actuality, Hugh Jackman is a sensitive soul with a song in his heart and a sprightly spring in his step. And Hugh Jackman can't be doing with all this action film lark, primarily since very few off them feature precisely choreographed song and dance routines about June bustin' out all over.

So Hugh Jackman is looking elsewhere to get his kicks. He's already signed up for a Disney musical that isn't properly written yet and has been filling in the meantime by singing at Nicole Kidman's wedding and generally being a less volatile Russell Crowe. But it's only now that Hugh Jackman can unveil his true passion - playing wife-beaters who commit suicide in remakes of 60-year-old Rogers And Hammerstein musicals.

According to reports, Hugh Jackman is in talks with Fox 2000 about starring in and producing a remake of Carousel, the 1945 musical about a fairground worker who slaps his wife about, kills himself and then gets sent back to earth to redeem himself by telling a teenager not to be so stroppy. And then sings You'll Never Walk Alone and makes some scousers cry.

Certainly the time is right for a Carousel remake - not only is the world beginning to accept flashy musicals again, but the underlying social message of Carousel - that fairground workers are mainly arseholes - is still as relevant as ever.

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Hugh Jackman For 'Carousel' Remake - Entertainmentwise

[story by Stuart Heritage]