Baz Luhrmann reinvented the musical

The ‘Moulin Rouge!’ director is not concerned about the possibility of making an adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgeralnd’s ‘The Great Gatsby’ because he likes to challenge himself, and he believes the risks often pay off.

Asked if he felt he was setting himself up for failure by attempting to work on the project, he said: “I don’t really care about that. I go towards things that are challenging for me and scary for me – but I want to see them up there. If I’d walked away from that I wouldn’t have tried to reinvent the musical or had a go at making Shakespeare popular or done a ballroom-dancing film.

“Nobody turns around and goes, ‘Yes, ballroom dancing, definitely! We want that!’ ”

Baz believes his interpretation of ‘Moulin Rouge!’ - which starred Nicole Kidman and Ewen McGregor and grossed $178 million worldwide – led to the success of musical TV show ‘Glee’.

He told The Independent newspaper: “‘Glee’ co-creator Ryan Murphy has been very nice about acknowledging that it was ‘Moulin Rouge’ that inspired him. I wish I had a dollar for everyone that said, ‘The musical will never be popular in America,’ 10 years ago.”