Baz Luhrmann, the visionary auteur behind Moulin Rouge! and Australia, is gearing up to direct his next project, an adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's acclaimed novel The Great Gatsby. According to Deadline, he recently work shopped the screenplay he wrote with Moulin Rouge!'s Craig Pearce, which saw Leonardo DiCaprio reading as Jay Gatsby and Tobey Maguire reading as Nick Carraway. Luhrmann wants both actors for his movie, but he is not so sure about casting the coveted role of Daisy just yet.

Rebecca Hall, who last appeared in Ben Affleck's The Town, read alongside DiCaprio and Maguire, and the actress is rumored to be first in running for the role. But Luhrmann, who is notorious for extensively work shopping his screenplays before they go in front of the camera, is looking to audition a number of Hollywood's biggest names before making his final decision.

On Baz Luhrmann's current wish list, he has Keira Knightley, Amanda Seyfried, Blake Lively, Abbie Cornish, Michelle Williams, Natalie Portman, and Scarlett Johansson. Luhrmann will conduct table reads over the course of the next two weeks in New York City to see how each of these actresses plays against Leonardo DiCaprio. It is suspected that some of the above mentioned women will not be able to audition, as most are currently in the midst of shooting their own projects at this time.