BBC - Films -news article - High Noon

		The Rock Gets Cool? Wrestler-turned-actor The Rock (aka Dwayne Johnson) is in line to star alongside John Travolta in Get Shorty sequel Be Cool. Elmore Leonard's follow-up to his film industry comedy-thriller is set in the music biz, and sees Travolta's Chili Palmer become embroiled in yet more mob mayhem. The Rock is being courted to play a beefy gay bodyguard who's also a wannabe singer. Be Cool will be directed by F Gary Gray, who's currently hot after his successful Italian Job. Whether he can pull off a gay Rock remains to be seen (hey, stop smirking at the back!).

		Cook Plans For First Wedding AntiTrust star Rachael Leigh Cook will star in the "out of whack" romantic comedy My First Wedding, which starts shooting in Montreal next week. Cook tells BBCi FILMS the pic is "about the lengths that you'll go to for the person you love, and all the misadventures that will follow you". The 24-year-old compares the comedy to "a Billy Wilder movie, really off the wall. That's where my tastes have been lying recently, and I've just developed an affinity for the out of whack stuff. You know, everybody I really respect for their careers says these days, "I just want to do something different." And I hope to stay on that path." Cook has been keeping a low-profile in indie films since starring in the disappointingly-received (we're being kind 'cos she's cute) Josie And The Pussycats in 2001.

		Old Pals Act Gene Hackman and Dustin Hoffman clearly enjoyed working together on the upcoming Runaway Jury (see Tuesday's High Noon). Why? Because they're now both set to star in Bit Players, a thriller that's being compared to The Sting and will be penned by Scott Rosenberg (who wrote the promising Things To Do In Denver When You're Dead, and utter dross thereafter). Hackman and Hoffman roomed together as struggling actors in New York in the 60s, and they'll be joined onscreen by another ex-roomie, Robert Duvall. Bit Players is about a gang of small-towners who group together to take revenge on a Wall Street shark who fleeced their townsfolk of their pensions. You can see Hackman and Hoffman together on screen for the first time when Runaway Jury opens here on 16th January.

		Jesus Christ! Mel Gibson's controversial film The Passion, chronicling the last 12 hours in the life of Jesus Christ, has been renamed - because of Jeanette Winterson! The British novelist, best known for Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, has a deal with Miramax to bring her 1997 novel The Passion to the big screen. So, because Miramax has already registered that title, Gibbo's had to amend his title to The Passion Of Christ. Predictably, his film has stirred strong emotions: some Jewish organisations have labelled it anti-semitic, while the Catholic Church has come out in support of (Catholic) Mel's vision. The film should be released in the UK next Easter, although strictly speaking it should disappear for three days before returning on Easter Sunday.

		Cool News For Knowles Aint It Cool News honcho Harry Knowles has landed a production deal at Revolution Studios. The ginger geek has become the most important film fan in America thanks to his well-established site, which has an inside track on all things Hollywood. He'll produce the comedy Ghost Town, based on a pitch by Knowles himself, but is bracing himself for lots of ginger whingers. Harry says readers of his site are "going to hate" his decision to work with Revolution, adding: "When anything good happens to me, there is a collective outburst of unfettered jealousy and anger." Hmm, persecution complex, anyone? Eager to point out that his position at Revolution won't stop him dissing their movies, Knowles notes that he "just ran a major negative review of [Revolution's] Radio, and a lukewarm review of Peter Pan".