The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina has put a cloud over Norman Jewison’s next picture, which had been slated to shoot in New Orleans early next year.

Bread and Tulips, a US$10-12-million remake of a five-year-old Italian romantic comedy, produced by Jewison and his son Michael (The Hurricane), was slated to begin filming in the devastated city in March, after Mardi Gras.

Jewison says the film’s backer, New York-based Sidney Kimmel Entertainment, is now questioning the project’s feasibility, and that frantic meetings with Kimmel president of production Bill Horberg took place during the Toronto International Film Festival. Its status remains unclear.

Jewison has courted top Hollywood actresses for the lead role and was close to finalizing casting when the storm hit on Aug. 29. ‘I’m hoping that things will be back to normal,’ he says.

The story follows an under-appreciated New Jersey housewife who is accidentally left behind on the family vacation, and ends up in New Orleans where she finds a new romance. The Big Easy takes the place of Venice in the original.

If the film does not go ahead in New Orleans, the producers may use another city as a stand-in, change the script, or abandon the project altogether.

‘It’s hard, because New Orleans is part of the magic of the film,’ Jewison explains, remarking that it’s not the same to have a character say, ‘I’ve always wanted to go to Miami.’

‘Venice was a very important destination for [the lead character] in the Italian film. New Orleans was the closest thing we felt we could get to Venice.’

The city also offers aggressive tax credits through the Louisiana Motion Picture Incentive Program. Jewison was encouraged by reports that the city’s photogenic French Quarter was not damaged too badly and that hotels and businesses were reopening, but at press time, the Gulf Coast was bracing for another hurricane, Rita.

The script for Bread and Tulips was penned by John Patrick Shanley, with whom Jewison made Moonstruck (1987), which grossed more than US$80 million in North America and netted three Oscars. The 78-year-old director hopes that he and Shanley, a recent recipient of both a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award for his play Doubt, can recapture their previous film’s magic.

‘Absolutely, and why not!’ says Jewison with a laugh. The picture would be his 25th feature.

But if Bread and Tulips stalls, he has another project pending with High Alert, a political satire that updates his 1966 comedy The Russians Are Coming The Russians Are Coming. High Alert, produced again by Jewison and son with David Jablin (The Don’s Analyst), is in turnaround with MGM/UA after the studio was taken over by Sony last year. Jewison is currently taking meetings to find an indie to take on the project.

If High Alert goes forward, it would shoot in Nova Scotia in the spring.