BBC - Films -news article - High Noon

		Fight The Hype Big surprise: The Matrix Revolutions has trounced the (effectively non-existent) "competition" at the global box office. It's notched up $204m (£120m) in its opening "weekend", breaking box office records - as well as shattering the conventions of decent Western society that dictate the weekend starts on Friday night as opposed to a Wednesday afternoon. Warner Bros are quick to point out that, as worldwide openings go, Revolutions has overtaken The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers, which took $190 million over five days last December. High Noon would like to offer a little more perspective by adding that in 2002 Spider-Man raked in $114.8m on its opening weekend in the US alone. Roll that in a tobacco leaf and smoke it, Joel Silver.

		Where There's A Will... Big Willie Smith has inked to star in romantic comedy Last First Kiss, which looks likely to be helmed by Andy 'Sweet Home Alabama' Tennant. Smith will play a matchmaker who claims his dating service can pair soulmates in just three easy dates. Hilarity ensues when an investigative journalist signs up for the program in order to debunk it. The role of probing journo has been offered to Eva Mendes (2 Fast 2 Furious), who may or may not be able to commit because of a prior engagement with Colin Farrell on the set of offbeat romance Ask The Dust. These flaky Hollywood types, eh?

		Super Pooper? Brendan Fraser isn't ruling out the possibility of playing Superman in the much-talked about remake, saying, "I'm thinking about it. The big, dangling question is: is the studio thinking about it?" A source at Warner Bros tells High Noon that nobody knows whether cameras will roll on Superman at all, especially since helmsman McG (Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle) seems to be losing interest. To that, Brendan quips, "So, the answer really is, it's a definite possibility. Who knows if they'll make the movie, but they've got my number." Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Is it a turkey?...

		De Palma Picks Dahlia The adaptation of James Ellroy's classic noir thriller The Black Dahlia was recently ditched by fickle David Fincher - already having bailed out on supernatural thriller Stay and skateboarding flick Lords Of Dogtown. Brian De Palma has now stepped up to helm the movie, based on a real-life Hollywood murder that made headlines in 1947. Josh Hartnett is in negotiations for a starring role. (Nobody mention Hollywood Homicide.)

		Sowing The Seeds City Of God helmer Fernando Meirelles will take John le Carre's thriller The Constant Gardener to the big screen. Dollface Ralph Fiennes will star as an English diplomat in Kenya whose wife is mysteriously killed, along with a human rights activist she's thought to have been conducting an affair with. The run-of-the-mill thriller plot serves as a thin veil for an investigation into the exploitation of underdeveloped countries by Western business interests. Mike Newell was originally attached to the project, but dropped out to direct Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire - concerning the exploitation of the underdeveloped brains of Western children by Hollywood business interests.

		Tommy's Tex-Mex Tommy Lee Jones is gearing up for his big screen directorial debut, armed with a script by Mexican scribe Guillermo Arriaga (Amores Perros). Arriaga reveals that Jones approached him after seeing Amores Perros. "He came to me and now we are very good friends," Arriaga says, adding that the film "is called Looking For Jimenez, and I hope it will be filmed soon. It's about the relationship between an illegal Mexican cowboy and an American cowboy in Texas. I wrote it for him to direct as well as star in." Tommy Lee Jones previously took the director's chair in 1995 to make TV movie The Good Old Boys.

		The Cat's Out The Bag Mike Myers tells how he has reinvented Dr Seuss' American storybook hero The Cat In The Hat as a Liverpudlian. In the upcoming film of the same name, Mike Myers assumes a Canadian-cum-Scouser accent in his portrayal of the eponymous cat, saying: "You know, my mom is a trained actress from Liverpool. For me, The Cat In The Hat had a Liverpool accent. If Austin Powers is kind of a tribute to my father, then this movie is a tribute to my mother." Americans can console themselves with knowledge that Myers' Cat will not be sporting a Bobby Ball afro, walrus 'tache and shellsuit. Cahm down, cahm down, eh!

		And Finally... In other news, Brittany Murphy (Just Married) is attached to star in romantic comedy Boyfriend In A Box, about a girl who buys a pre-packaged, imaginary boyfriend. Laughs will (allegedly) ensue when inquisitive friends and family insist on meeting said boy-toy... Luis Guzman (Anger Management) and Craig Ferguson (I'll Be There) have landed roles in kiddie pic Lemony Snicket's A Series Of Unfortunate Events, directed by Brad Silberling (Moonlight Mile). They join Jim Carrey, Meryl Streep, and Jude Law... Director Michael Winterbottom is set to tackle an adaptation of Laurence Sterne's 18th century comic masterpiece The Life And Opinions Of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman. It's loosely described as the rambling autobiography of a country parson, who'll be played by Steve Coogan of Alan Partridge fame. Back of the net!