Beach Grounded, Anna Abandoned

The bad news is: The Beach, has again run into problems over the environmental threat that filming will cause to the Thai island, Phi Phi. The good news is: a second lead has finally been signed to star opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in the form of Indie flick babe, Tilda Swinton. The Thailand Forestry Department is the latest in a long line of bureaucratic bodies to put the scuppers on the Danny Boyle-directed project, and has demanded that production is put on hold until the possible environmental hazards have been investigated. Environmentalists claim the studio's plans to remove certain native vegetation temporarily and return it to its original site after filming, is unworkable because the vegetation will be unable to take root in time for the monsoon season.The department has assembled a blue-ribbon panel to study the objections, according to the Bangkok Post. Based on the Alex Garland novel and scripted by John Hodge, the film marks Swinton's first starring role in a studio film after numerous indie films, including the lead in Sally Potter's, Orlando. She has repeatedly resisted studio offers in the past. DiCaprio plays a rootless American who heads to Thailand with a map to paradise drawn by a madman. Swinton will play the leader of the group he encounters on the beach, who seduces the man and leads him on his journey. Fox also announced this week that it has given up trying to persuade the Thai Government to allow Anna and the King to be shot there. The studio's statement referred to "excessive bureaucracy and political red-tape," but assured the Thai government that the decision "was not made with any disrespect or outrage."