From Variety:Kate Winslet will replace Nicole Kidman in the lead of the Weinstein Co.'s Stephen Daldry pic "The Reader." Kidman dropped out citing her pregnancy as the reason.
Principal photography on the pic began late last year in Berlin and the eastern city of Goerlitz, and filming was set to continue in January with Kidman, who had yet to shoot any scenes of the film.
Author Bernhard Schlink began dishing news that Winslet would take over the role opposite Ralph Fiennes and up-and-coming German thesp David Kross ("Tough Enough"). Sources confirmed the casting.
The article goes on to explain that Winslet was the first choice for the role and how she's now able to do it. The Reader will be released in December.
Here's the synopsis for The Reader (book) from amazon.co.uk:
For 15-year-old Michael Berg, a chance meeting with an older woman leads to far more than he ever imagined. The woman in question is Hanna, and before long they embark on a passionate, clandestine love affair which leaves Michael both euphoric and confused. For Hanna is not all she seems. Years later, as a law student observing a trial in Germany, Michael is shocked to realize that the person in the dock is Hanna. The woman he had loved is a criminal. Much about her behaviour during the trial does not make sense. But then suddenly, and terribly, it does - Hanna is not only obliged to answer for a horrible crime, she is also desperately concealing an even deeper secret. 'A tender, horrifying novel that shows blazingly well how the Holocaust should be dealt with in fiction. A thriller, a love story and a deeply moving examination of a German conscience.
Schlink is also the author of the 'Gerhardt Self' mystery series.
