The film was originally slated to star Kate Hudson and Ralph Fiennes and be directed by 'Mike Newell' . Hudson pulled out during preproduction, which resulted in funding being pulled, and by the time new funding was secured, Newell had to move on to another project. After a director search, 'Peter Webber' was tapped for the job and held auditions for a new female lead. He settled on Kirsten Dunst, who then dropped the project in wake of Spider-Man (2002)'s success. At this point, Fiennes had ...[Read Story ]