Travolta does Dallas

By Joshua Tyler Sep 29, 2005, 4:30 GMT

The original cast of Dallas

In case you didn't know, "Dallas" is on its way to joining the ranks of television shows adapted into movies. Today the big news in Variety involves who will end up playing J.R. Ewing. No word yet on the casting of his shooter.

With Robert Harling's script in the middle of rewrites by screenwriter Sacha Gervasi, New Regency, the company producing it, insists there will be no casting decisions until Gervasi is finished. Whether they're ready to make a decision or not, interest in the role is high, with John Travolta repeatedly touted as the leading candidate to throw on J.R.'s ten-gallon hat. But his isn't the only name in the mix. Mel Gibson, Kevin Costner, and Tommy Lee Jones are also rumored to be interested.

Put forward as candidates to play Sue-Ellen are Catherine Zeta-Jones, Demi Moore, and Jennifer Lopez. Up for Bobby Ewing is Owen Wilson and folksy actor Matthew McConaughey, while Jane Fonda may be up for Miss Ellie. The field is even wider when it comes to casting Pamela. New Regency is considering candidates as different as Drew Barrymore and Lindsay Lohan for the role once made famous by Victoria Principle. Also under scrutiny are Jessica Simpson, Reese Witherspoon, and Mandy Moore.

For those of you not flipping channels back in the early 80's, "Dallas" was the great-granddaddy of primetime soap operas. It's the story of J.R. Ewing, the head of the world's most powerful energy company, and the patriarch of a shady, backbiting, Texas oil clan with a tendency to mix family matters and business politics.

'Dallas', once it starts filming, will be directed by Robert Luketic. That might explain the Jane Fonda connection, since Luketic's last project was the Jane Fonda/Jennifer Lopez movie 'Monster-in-Law'.