Brokeback Mountain | Entertainment News, Photos, and Videos

Brokeback Mountain is heading to the West End.

The stage adaptation of Annie Proulx’s best-selling novel, described as a play with music, will be staged at Sohoplace Theatre from May 10 for a 12-week season in London, England, via Deadline.

The play is based on the short story originally published in The New Yorker in 1997, and not on Ang Lee’s 2005 film that starred Heath Ledger, Anne Hathaway, Michelle Williams and Jake Gyllenhaal, producer Nica Burns noted.

Everybody’s Talking About Jamie‘s Jonathan Butterell will direct. Dan Gillespie Sells will write some of the music, and singer-songwriter Eddi Reader will perform on stage with a country and western band.

The LGBTQ-themed story follows two cowboys who fall in love in Wyoming.

Find out which two male lead stars will appear in the production…

Brokeback Mountain was a smash-hit film back when it was released in theaters in 2005.

The original film was directed by Ang Lee and starred the late Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal in the leading roles.

What you may not know is, several A-List actors turned down the roles of Jack (Gyllenhaal) and Ennis (Ledger) when they read the script. During interviews, one director who almost directed the movie, Gus Van Sant, revealed who turned down the roles. Screenwriter Diana Ossana also named some names in another interview.

Click through the slideshow to see which six super famous actors turned down roles in 2005′s Brokeback Mountain…

Josh Hartnett recently opened up about being offered one of the lead roles in the Oscar-winning movie Brokeback Mountain and why he dropped out of the project.

The 43-year-old actor had to drop out because of contractual obligations to star in the 2006 thriller The Black Dahlia.

The future Oscar winner who was supposed to star alongside Josh also didn’t end up in the movie and the roles went to Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal.

Click inside to find out who almost starred in the movie with Josh Hartnett… More Here! »

Jake Gyllenhaal and the late Heath Ledger co-starred in the 2005 hit film Brokeback Mountain, and now Jake is relaying a story about what happened when they were approached to present at the Oscars.

“I remember they wanted to do an opening for the Academy Awards that year that was sort of joking about it. And Heath refused. I was sort of at the time, ‘Oh, okay… whatever.’ I’m always like: it’s all in good fun. And Heath said, ‘It’s not a joke to me – I don’t want to make any jokes about it,’” Jake told Another Man.

When the writer of the piece remarked about how smart that was, Jake responded, “Absolutely.”

Find out which other actors were offered the Brokeback Mountain leading roles but turned it down.

Brokeback Mountain was a smash-hit film back when it was released in theaters in 2005.

The original film was directed by Ang Lee and starred the late Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal in the leading roles.

What you may not know is, several A-List actors turned down the roles of Jack (Gyllenhaal) and Ennis (Ledger) when they read the script. During recent interviews, one director who almost directed the movie, Gus Van Sant, revealed who turned down the roles. Screenwriter Diana Ossana also named some names in another interview.

Click through the slideshow to see which six super famous actors turned down roles in 2005′s Brokeback Mountain…

Brokeback Mountain could have had a very different cast!

Ang Lee ended up directing the film, but before signing on, director Gus Van Sant was also in the running to direct the groundbreaking 2005 film.

Gus spoke in an interview about the actors he originally offered roles to, before they turned it down.

“Nobody wanted to do it. I was working on it, and I felt like we needed a really strong cast, like a famous cast. That wasn’t working out. I asked the usual suspects: Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Ryan Phillippe. They all said no,” Gus told IndieWire.

“Yes, all those young gentlemen (at the time) turned down the project, for various reasons,” producer and screenwriter Diana Ossana confirmed.

Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal ended up starring in the film, and both received Oscar nominations for their work.

FYI: Ang Lee ended up winning the Oscar for Best Director for his work on the film! The film also was nominated for a slew of other Oscars.