Baz Luhrmann’s untitled 1930s drama starring Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman, which was eyeing a September start date in Australia, has been pushed back to February because of scheduling conflicts and budget debates with 20th Century Fox, sources have confirmed.

Crowe is set to reunite with “Gladiator” director Ridley Scott in July on Universal’s “American Gangster,” and won’t be ready in time for Luhrmann’s project. The Universal film, which will shoot in New York, also stars Denzel Washington as a Harlem heroin druglord, while Crowe will play a New York City detective, a role originally set for Benicio Del Toro.

Kidman, meanwhile, began work this week on writer/director Noah Baumbach’s follow-up to “The Squid and the Whale.” Set in New York state, the untitled family drama co-stars Jack Black, and Jennifer Jason Leigh as Kidman’s sister. It is being produced by Paramount’s specialty division.

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NICOLE Kidman has been told she would be likely to receive a church annulment of her marriage to Tom Cruise, allowing her to re-marry in the Catholic Church in Sydney later this year.

Kidman’s family had already held discussions with a Catholic priest about arrangements for her wedding to country singer Keith Urban, a source confirmed yesterday.

“The date hasn’t been set, although June or July have been mentioned as possibilities,” the source said.

The golden couple certainly looked very much in love when they were spotted hand-in-hand in Nashville on Wednesday, to the delight of their fans.

They laughed and chatted while shopping in the country music capital – with a romantic Urban even opening the car door for Kidman.

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Ya gotta admit, CMT has pretty much landed country’s biggest stars for performances for its awards show on April 10 at The Curb Event Center at Belmont University.

Already announced: Kenny Chesney, Toby Keith, Rascal Flatts, Trace Adkins, Gretchen Wilson, Brooks & Dunn and Sugarland.

Expected to be announced today: Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Carrie Underwood and Keith Urban.

No, Nicole Kidman won’t be on the show, but she was spotted shopping at Katy K’s Ranch Dressing Western clothes shop on 12th Avenue South this Saturday. Maybe Nicole was getting one of those form-fitting dresses she bought for the awards show.

Also in her shopping cart: Some baby clothes. . . . Do what??!?

OK, OK, settle down.

“For gifts, she assured me,” Katy K herself tells me.

I see. But I digress.

Tix for the CMT awards show are sold out, but you can see it live that night on, you guessed it, CMT.

ACTRESS Gwyneth Paltrow revealed a little too much when she attended the 2002 Oscar ceremony in a see-through dress. Now her daring outfit has earned a new accolade.

The wife of Coldplay frontman Chris Martin has been named as the owner of the worst little black dress in a poll to celebrate 80 years of the wardrobe staple.

Ms Paltrow, who won a Best Actress Oscar in 1998 for her role in Shakespeare In Love, turned up at the glittering Hollywood awards bash three years later in an Alexander McQueen ‘punk princess’ transparent dress that completely revealed her breasts.

She was roundly criticised for her choice of outfit at the time, but now comes bottom in a poll of little black dresses worn by the rich and famous.

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TV bosses on cartoon show The Simpsons are still hoping to persuade Australian actress Nicole Kidman to make an appearance on the show.

The Moulin Rouge star has failed to respond to invitations to follow in the footsteps of other big names including Sir Elton John, Britney Spears and Mel Gibson – who have all made guest appearances on the dysfunctional family show.

Executive producer Al Jean says: “We approached Nicole when we were looking for a celebrity couple back when she was married to Tom Cruise.

“Some way, sooner or later, we should be able to get her, though.”

She may be an Oscar winner, but Nicole Kidman has embraced the role of being her boyfriend Keith Urban’s No. 1 groupie with gusto.

As her country rocker beau kicked off a surprise gig at Nashville’s Lipscomb University last month, Kidman was “just cheering like a fan,” a concertgoer tells PEOPLE in its new issue.

The actress has also embraced a surprisingly sedate life with the singer in Music City. The fellow Aussies, both 38, are now as much of a Nashville staple as the Grand Ole Opry – nesting at Urban’s mansion in the posh Green Hills neighborhood, dining out with neighbor LeAnn Rimes, flashing that whopping diamond ring of Kidman’s all over town. (An engagement ring? The couple still won’t say, though Kidman has been wearing it on her ring finger since November.)

Pals say there’s no doubt Kidman and Urban are deeply in love. “They seem great together,” says a source close to Kidman. “Real love just happens. You don’t plan it. And that’s what happened with them. They fell in love.”

And lately, the spotlight-shy pair aren’t afraid to show it – turning up together in the front row at February’s Grammys (their first major event as a couple), gabbing with Barbara Walters at Vanity Fair’s post-Oscars party and strolling hand-in-hand near Urban’s home.

All of which, of course, means that folks from Malibu to Nashville’s Music Row – including some close to the couple – are buzzing about when the two will set a wedding date.

“They’re perfect together,” says a Nashville source. “I think they’ll definitely get married.”

RUSSELL Crowe says he cried when reading the script for his coming romantic Australian film written by director Baz Luhrmann.

“The first draft I read — goosebumps twice and tears at the end,” Crowe told Macquarie Radio yesterday.

“It’s fantastic.”

Nicole Kidman is also set to star in the film, which is yet to be titled.

The Australian romantic epic will be set in Darwin in the 1930s, with Crowe’s and Kidman’s characters involved in a love triangle.

The Oscar-winning actors will begin rehearsals in Los Angeles next month. The film has a rumoured budget of $40 million and Luhrmann has described it as an epic on the scale of Gone With the Wind, Out of Africa or Giant.

Further details on the project are expectedto be announced in coming weeks.

“One can’t rush genius,” Crowe said.

“Mr Luhrmann is a certified genius and when he’s got the name he’ll no doubt call me up.”

BOWEN could be set to play host to some of Hollywood’s A-list including Aussie stars Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe and director Baz Luhrmann.
Luhrmann, the Australian writer and director of Strictly Ballroom, Romeo and Juliet, Moulin Rouge and musical La Boheme, is seeking the perfect site for his next film project which will star two of Australia’s hottest acting talents.

Bowen mayor Mike Brunker said Bowen’s wide streets and ‘‘old-time feel’’ was just what Luhrmann and his team had in mind.

‘‘Baz was here on Wednesday — so fingers crossed we’ve got the tick for the flick,’’ he said.

Cr Brunker said filming in Bowen would raise the profile of the town.
‘‘There’s a huge economic benefit — I think they want to be here for three or four months,’’ he said.

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Dion Beebe took top honors for MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA in the feature film competition here tonight at the 20th Annual American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) Outstanding Achievement Awards at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel.

It is the first ASC Outstanding Achievement Award for Beebe, who was nominated along with Robert Elswit for GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK, Andrew Lesnie for KING KONG, Wally Pfister for BATMAN BEGINS, and Rodrigo Prieto for BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN.

The award was presented by Bill Paxton who observed, “All of the nominees have artfully rendered images that create a sense of time and place. They guided the audience under the surface where they discovered the souls of the characters and the spirits of the stories.”

Edward James Olmos presented the television movie award to Robbie Greenberg for HBO’s WARM SPRINGS. Greenberg’s fellow nominees were Alan Caso for INTO THE WEST, Thomas A. Del Ruth for CODE BREAKERS, Jan Kiesser for REEFER MADNESS, and Bill Roe for FAITH OF MY FATHERS. It is the fourth ASC Outstanding Achievement Award for Greenberg, and his second consecutive win after taking last year’s prize for Iron Jawed Angels.

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IT’s not Oklahoma!, it’s not Gone With The Wind and it’s definitely not a musical – but Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe will feature in a “sweeping romance” directed by Baz Luhrmann.

“Yes and it’s very passionate,” the Moulin Rouge! director said of their on-screen relationship.

Luhrmann confirmed details of his highly anticipated next movie ahead of an official announcement in three weeks, when the title will be revealed.

The epic begins in the mid-1930s and concludes with its major set-piece, the 1942-43 Japanese bombing of Darwin and the exodus south, known as the Adelaide River Stakes.

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