It's been one of the longest-in-development projects in Hollywood, and has been taken down at various times by circumstances so extraordinary that they deserve their own movie script. It has one of the most powerful A-listers in town behind it, but the superstitious star has reached the point where she won't even say its name, for fear of jinxing it.

So what, exactly is going on with "Flora Plum?"

"There are so many reasons to make the movie," Jodie Foster assured us recently, insisting that her passion project will happen. "Someday, when the movie is made, you will see."

Back around the turn of the century, the double Oscar-winner thought so highly of Steven Rogers' script about 1940's circus performers that she turned-down a multimillion "Hannibal" payday, with reported intentions of making "Plum" instead. Foster had plans to direct Russell Crowe and Claire Danes, but production was shut down after Crowe injured his shoulder. Ewan McGregor and Meryl Streep later joined the cast, and cameras came this close to rolling in early 2004, but they also couldn't push the film to fruition. Read more...