How Fleetwood Mac inspired Cate Blanchett’s new movie
During a press conference at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, Cate Blanchett confirmed that her upcoming dark comedy film, Rumours, was named after the classic Fleetwood Mac album.
Co-directed by Guy Maddin and brothers Evan and Galen Johnson, the film aims to satirise the G7 summit, with Blanchett set to portray the German Chancellor. The cast also includes Ex Machina star Alicia Vikander, who will take on the role of the Secretary-General of the European Commission, and British icon Charles Dance, who will play the US president.
Rumours premiered earlier this week at Cannes, receiving a standing ovation lasting almost six minutes. In a press conference at the French film festival, Blanchett confirmed that the film’s title was inspired by the name of Fleetwood Mac’s iconic magnum opus, Rumours.
“I did confirm something with Galen last night,” she recalled, “and it’s weird that it never came up in rehearsal, which is: ‘Why the hell is this movie called Rumours?'” Blanchett’s husband went on to inquire whether it was inspired by the Fleetwood Mac album of the same name, released in 1977, which Johnson confirmed.
Rumours is Fleetwood Mac’s most famous album, born out of the soft rock band’s drug use and tumultuous internal relationships. The record spawned some of Fleetwood Mac’s biggest hits, from the dismissive ‘Go Your Own Way’ to the swaying ‘Dreams’ to the sprawling ‘The Chain’.
Johnson’s decision to name his film after the album came when the directors were perusing a list of great album names. They were particularly drawn to Rumours because of the drama and divorces that characterised its production process.
“Rumours the album was famously creatively fraught, and everyone was sleeping with each other,” Johnson went on to explain, “so it made sense to us.” The director thought they would run into queries about the title earlier than at its premiere, but Rumours simply stuck.
“No one questioned it,” he shrugged, “We thought people, producers and financiers, would be like, ‘Why Rumours?’ But no one ever questioned it, so it just made the title.”
Blanchett will also star in Eli Roth’s upcoming adaptation of the video game Borderlands, which is scheduled for release later this summer. Amidst a star-studded ensemble cast including the likes of Jack Black, Kevin Hart and Jamie Lee Curtis, Blanchett will take on the role of protagonist Lilith. Rumours is yet to receive a widespread theatrical release date.
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