[We ♥ Milla Jovovich]

Elle has alerted us to this interesting Russian-language report which claims Milla Jovovich is still onboard The Winter Queen, the Russian-language period drama/thriller which has been running into scheduling conflicts since 2007, culminating in director Paul Verhoeven ultimately leaving the project. 9 rota-director Fyodor Bondarchuk has since taken over helming the film, however Milla’s continued involvement in the production has despite online reports remained unconfirmed.

According to the rough Google translation of this Russian article from Spletnik.ru, however, Milla has once again agreed to do the film, with Bondarchuk as the new director. According to the article, first post-Verhoeven negotiations took place already last year, but it wasn’t until recently that Milla consented to starring in the film in its new production form. Although according to The Winter Queen’s Internet Movie Database-page filming is expected to begin this summer, it is likely that the Spletnik.ru article is closer to the truth in saying that filming is currently slated for the fall, with Milla’s summer filming schedule looking very busy with Bringing Up Bobby and The Three Musketeers.

Until Milla confirms (or denies) her involvement in the film via an official outlet, we’ll continue to treat her role in The Winter Queen as “rumored”, however we of course remain hopeful that these rumors prove to be true. It’s sounded like a thrilling project from the beginning!

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It seems like forever ago (last November to be exact) since we last heard any news on the Paul Verhoeven directed and Milla Jovovich starring project The Winter Queen. The film, based on Boris Akunin’s novel, is set in 1876 and tells the story of a young investigator with the Moscow police who, in the midst of solving a suicide of a university student, instead finds himself in the middle of an international conspiracy.

The project seemed to be going along at a good pace when production was stalled due to Jovovich’s pregnancy. In a later interview, the actress revealed that Verhoeven was moving onto other projects which left The Winter Queen dead in the water before production even started. That however, seems to have changed.

News now is that the project is going full speed ahead with shooting scheduled to start in April. But who has taken over for Verhoeven? Why, none other than Fyodor Bondarchuk, the man behind Inhabited Island, a film we’ve talked about in the past.

It’s good to see the project moving ahead and it’ll be interesting to see how Bondarchuk’s previous work (he certainly has his own style) translates into this story. I expect we’re in for a treat

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