Chaos Reigns! Kirsten Dunst Signs on to Lars Von Trier's MELANCHOLIA

My loyalty and devotion to Kirsten Dunst, admittedly, borders on the fanatical. No other actress has more movies stacked up in my collection than she does. I think if I look hard enough I've probably got 15 and Pregnant(co-starring Park Overall!!) buried in there somewhere. So when she signs on to a project, nobody follows it more closely than I, but in this case I have to admit being a little bit worried.

Dunst has recently signed on to star in maniacal director Lars Von Trier's upcoming "psychological disaster film", Melancholia. She'll be taking over the role once held by Penelope Cruz, who left in order to earn a fat paycheck in the next Pirates of the Caribbean movie.

Von Trier has gathered an impressive cast for the film, including 24's Kiefer Sutherland, Stellan Skarsgaard(Breaking the Waves) and his son Alexander Skarsgaard, and one of Von Trier's favorites, Charlotte Gainsbourg(Antichrist, The Science of Sleep). Anyone who's seen Von Trier's disturbing film, Antichrist, knows that some of his subject matter can be downright offensive and morally objectionable to some. I'm sure that Dunst, after having the relative ease of the Spider-Man films yanked out from under her, is looking to stretch herself in new ways, but jumping straight into a Von Trier film could be risky. It definitely makes for an odd pairing. I don't wanna see her snipping off any...*ahem*...private parts of her own body or anything. I got more than my fill of that watching Gainsbourg do it in Antichrist. The nightmares are still hanging around.

I don't know squat about Melancholia, but with that cast I really don't care. None of the trades seem to be able to nail down quite what it's about, but it definitely has a sci-fi bent, a departure for the minimalist director.