Luvverly Orlando Bloom has inked to star in Ridley Scott's Kingdom Of Heaven. The crusades-themed project will see the Pirates Of The Caribbean star play a blacksmith (again?) turned knight who defends Jerusalem from European invaders (oddly, given he's European). "I've worked with Ridley once before [on Black Hawk Down]," he told BBCi FILMS, "And I'm really excited to be working with him again".

Meanwhile, Jerry Bruckheimer is mulling over shooting back-to-back sequels to Pirates. Bloom, Johnny Deep and co have already inked for #2, but Jez may want them to hang about for a third part.

Ron "Happy Days" Howard has been blabbing to us about boxing drama Cinderella Man, starring Russell Crowe.

"We're scheduled to start shooting in March. Rehearsals begin in February. Boxing choreography begins in earnest in December," he says. "Russell's been training for a couple of months already. He and I are emailing each other every other day. The script is in the early stages of re-writes but coming along very strong. Renée Zellweger has signed on to play boxer Jim Braddock's wife May."

Of the pairing, Howard gushed, "You have two consummate actors who are beautifully cast. They're both very, very entertaining but they're honest. Every choice they make is driven by honesty and that's what I love as a director and I love to see that on screen. So their relationship will be interesting to watch."

Potential Bond and Croupier star Clive Owen has revealed a little about the revisionist retelling of Arthur's origins in King Arthur.

The 'English' hero is a half-Roman "commander of a crack team of military knights who, at the beginning of the movie, gets the mission from hell - to go into dangerous, unknown territory and rescue a family as the Saxons are invading by the thousands and the rebels are out there fighting.

"Arthur has always held onto Rome as something he wants to return to and something he reveres, but it keeps changing. His faith is called into question. It's about how he begins to accept the place where he lives and the people who he's with. He becomes a man of the people."

Sounds all very Gladiator.