Marshall has "lived" with the making of the musical "/*Nine*/" for several years.
The re-imagining of the classic Fellini film "8 1/2" was first a Broadway musical. Now the unconventional story has finally come to the big screen.
"It doesn't have a classic narrative. We meet a man in crisis, an Italian film director in the 60s. He is going through a creative crisis and also a personal crisis and it's about moving forward, about learning how to begin again," said Marshall.
Marshall corralled an all-star cast to tell the story of "Nine." But many of his actors, including /*Daniel Day Lewis*/, /*Kate Hudson*/, /*Judi Dench*/, /*Penelope Cruz*/, /*Sophia Loren*/ and /*Marion Cotillard*/, weren't known for their singing or dancing skills. And that challenge is what Marshall enjoyed the most.
"What I love about doing musicals for film is that you have to rehearse and you have to create a company," said Marshall. "You have no choice because of the musical numbers and so forth. So we had six weeks of rehearsal and then two weeks of pre-records, and you create this wonderful bond with each other. It's fantastic."
"Nine" is rated PG-13 and opens in a few theaters in the Southland on Friday, Dec. 18. It will go into wider release on Christmas Day.
