BBC - Films - High Noon - 14th April 2004

		Ben Plays Ball Ben Affleck has inked to star as a basketball coach who led the first all-black line-up of players to the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) championship. Jerry Bruckheimer is producing Glory Road, based on the true-life exploits of coach Don Haskins. His integrated Texas Western team beat an all-white team from Kentucky in 1966. Haskins' team was among the first to abandon slow-tempo offences in favour of the high-speed style that dominates the game today. In case you were wondering...

		Twice The Exorcise After having his Exorcist prequel shelved by Morgan Creek (who felt the movie wasn't scary enough), director Paul Schrader has accepted a deal to have the film released on DVD. This comes after Renny Harlin (Deep Blue Sea) was commissioned to direct a new rendering of the so-called Exorcist: The Beginning (now that's scary). That movie will be released in cinemas this summer, but here's the weird part: Harlin's film will later be released on DVD simultaneously with Schrader's version. Recouping the cost of making Schrader's film is the obvious motivation behind this highly unconventional move, but Schrader is, as always, a slave to his art. "I'm very proud of my film, and I think it deserves to be seen," he tells Daily Variety. "If I get the DVD, I can say "God bless you Renny; may your film do well"." Yeah, and Linda Blair's head can spin 360 degrees.

		MacDowell Makes the Cut Andie MacDowell is booked into the line-up for Queen Latifah's cutting comedy Beauty Shop. She'll play a conservative Southern socialite who takes a leap of faith when she follows Latifah's character from the salon where they both work (run by Kevin Bacon) to start a rival business. The Core's Alfre Woodard has also landed a role as Miss Josephine, the shop's Afrocentric stylist who's in the habit of spouting poetry by Maya Angelou. Honey helmer Bille Woodruff will direct the Barbershop spin-off with a cast that also includes Alicia Silverstone, Djimon Hounsou, Mena Suvari, and Lil' JJ.

		Calling The Shots Confidence man James Foley will direct Hard Hearts, a comic crime caper about a bounty-hunting couple who chase down a target while planning their wedding. No casting decisions have been made as yet... Producer/director Irwin Winkler (The Net) is in final negotiations to direct Man On Third, an adaptation of the debut novel by Mark Friedman. The plot centres on the relationship between two brothers: one, a successful Major League Baseball player, the other a scientist who lives in his shadow... Holes helmer Andrew Davis has signed on for The Guardian. In a pitch that sounds like Good Will Hunting meets Baywatch, it's the story of a rebellious young man who enlists in the Coast Guard and finds a mentor in the shape of a legendary rescue swimmer with a tragic past. Ashton Kutcher was recently passed over for the title role. Punk'd...