Colin comes first

According to Variety, “Che” is on the backburner, and in it’s place a newie with Colin Farrell.

Terrence Malick has abruptly walked off the biopic of Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara and instead committed to direct “The New World”, a New Line drama about Pocahontas and the cultural collision of European explorers and Native American tribes.

Colin Farrell has committed to play the explorer John Smith in the project, which has set a July production start date in Virginia. The film will cost just north of $30 million, with New Line retaining world rights.

Malick will shelve Che, a film that was mobilizing for a July start in Bolivia with Benicio Del Toro set as the title character and Franka Potente, Javier Bardem, Benjamin Bratt and Ryan Gosling ready to play his lieutenants.

Malick, who co-wrote the Che script with Del Toro and Ben Vanderveen, has told the film’s producers and financiers that he intends to return and direct the film in July 2005.