BBC - Films - High Noon - 10th February 2004

		Laying Down The Law Oscar nominee Jude Law has signed up for love story Dexterity. The Cold Mountain star will also co-produce the film, a slice of Americana adapted from a novel by Douglas Bauer. It's about a small-town couple whose relationship is strained when the husband is laid off from his factory job. High Noon can't begin to imagine why the script has been in development hell for over a decade, but Law (in his producer's hat) remains confident. "I'm delighted that the elements are coming together for Dexterity," he says. "It's a great pleasure for me to be working once again with the folks at Paramount, which has become like a second home to me." Jason Patric and Matthew McConaughey were among the many 'names' previously attached to the project.

		Timberlake Takes The Plunge Recent two-time Grammy-winner Justin Timberlake will appear opposite Morgan Freeman, Kevin Spacey, and LL Cool J in David Burke thriller Edison. The pasty-faced pop star will reportedly play a "small but pivotal role" in the story of a young journo who uncovers an elite unit of corrupt cops. Up until now, Timberlake has taken blink-and-you'll-miss-it parts in romantic comedy On The Line (us neither), and crime thriller Longshot (???) - so we can safely say Edison will be the first time Timberlake has been seen on the big screen. Filming begins 1st March in Vancouver, Canada.

		Counting Crowe? Stuck On You directors the Farrelly brothers are sizing up Russell Crowe for the part of Moe in their movie about legendary comedy troupe The Three Stooges. Peter Farrelly told the Aussie press: "We would like to get Russell Crowe for Moe. He is the perfect Moe. We are big fans - we think it would be fun to work with him." The Farrelly brothers have yet to make the official approach, and since they were publicly schmoozing Benicio del Toro for the same role just a couple of months ago, don't expect to see Crowe sporting a bowl cut just yet.

		Somebody Shoot Gary Ross, Oscar-nominated (!!??) director of Seabiscuit, will write, direct and produce (but probably forget to edit) an untitled drama about a high school misfit with a "high concept twist", which for the moment he's keeping under his hat. "Since Columbine, I've been very interested in those invisible kids who fall through the cracks - the ones who are not the star athlete or the A-student," Ross says. "I think there is something heroic inside of each of them." Ross is already in the process of writing the script and is aiming for an autumn shoot.

		The Ender Is Nigh Troy director Wolfgang Petersen has appointed X-Men 2 scribes Dan Harris and Michael Dougherty to adapt the Orson Scott Card books Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow. The children's book series is a post-apocalyptic fantasy about a group of gifted children who are recruited in the fight against an army of alien aggressors... Ethan Hawke and Laurence Fishburne are set to star in a remake of the John Carpenter thriller Assault On Precinct 13. In the updated version, Fishburne will play a New York mobster incarcerated for one night under Hawke's supervision. Hawke must band together with a motley group of policemen and prisoners to fight off a mob that wants to spring said mobster... Woody Harrelson has inked to star in screwball comedy Jack Tucker, Trucker, written and to be directed by Bad Santa scribes John Requa and Glenn Ficarra. We assume it's a about a trucker... Far From Heaven helmer Todd Haynes has struck a deal with Paramount that brings his long-gestating Bob Dylan project closer to reality. Haynes is currently scripting the film, tentatively titled I'm Not There: Suppositions On A Film Concerning Dylan. Pretentious? Never... Oh, and by the way, the original Star Wars trilogy, ie Episodes IV: A New Hope, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, and Episode VI: Return Of The Jedi, is finally touching down on Region 1 DVD in a four-disc boxset on September 21st. The discs - featuring the 1997 digitally enhanced versions - are expected in the UK days afterwards. Go forth and prosper with the force, or whatever...