Hudson-McConaughey Flick Turns to Jelly

Fri., Mar. 30, 2007 4:35 PM PDT by Natalie Finn

Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey now know how to lose a film in 10 minutes.

Production on the adventure comedy Fool's Gold was temporarily shut down this week in Australia when deadly jellyfish were spotted on the beach where the crew was shooting the film's final scene.

Warner Bros. spokesperson Fiona Searson told the French news agency AFP that an Irukandji jellyfish, a particularly venomous breed that lurks in Australia's northern waters, turned up on the Fraser Island set, located about 124 miles north of Brisbane on the country's east coast.

But instead of switching modes and injecting a little sci-fi action into the picture, filming for the day was canceled and the scheduled scene—in which Hudson and McConaughey are supposed to swim—will be shot at another location.

"We have a marine expert on the film to ensure everyone's safe and he found the jellyfish," Searson said. "We decided not to put the cast in the water because of the jellyfish."

The delay will not change either the film's ending or its scheduled Feb. 8, 2008, release date, she added.

"It's an unusual problem to come across," Searson said. "It's certainly the first film I've ever worked on where jellyfish have stopped filming—only in Australia, I suppose."

James Cook University senior lecturer Jamie Seymour, the consultant working on the set, said that all tourists should be on the lookout and may want to take added precautions—he mentioned something called a "stinger suit"—if they plan on taking a dip.

Not that there's anything to be too concerned about, though.

"We don't want a perception to spread that every Sunshine Coast beach is a killing field," Daniel Gschwindm, chief executive of the Queensland Tourism Industry Council, told Australia's News Network Website, adding that it would be premature to issue any official warnings.

Hudson and McConaughey are said to have never been in any danger and were evacuated from the set.

In Fool's Gold, the How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days duo have reunited as a couple whose marriage is on the rocks but gets a badly needed jumpstart when they discover a clue that could lead them to a long-lost treasure. Presumably there are some bad guys also searching for the loot. Donald Sutherland and Ewen Bremner costar.

For McConaughey, at least, life's a beach these days. Next up for the 36-year-old Texan is an extended stay in Malibu to film the comedy Surfer Dude.

Hudson, meanwhile, has signed on to star in the romantic comedy Bride Wars, playing a soon-to-be-wed gal whose best friend has planned her nuptials for the same day, and in the drama Sleight of Mind, playing a young woman who befriends an elderly magician suffering from Alzheimer's disease.