BBC - Movies -news article - High Noon

		Robbins Gets Hot Stuff Tim Robbins will take the lead in political thriller Hot Stuff for UK production outfit Working Title. Phillip Noyce, who recently directed The Quiet American and Rabbit-Proof Fence, will take the helm. Although the film is based on a true story, Robbins will play a fictional policeman serving during the brutal apartheid era in South Africa. Antwone Fisher star Derek Luke will also star as an ordinary man who resorts to terror in the fight for social justice. The screenplay is by Shawn Slovo, daughter of murdered anti-apartheid activist Ruth First and leading member of the African National Congress, Joe Slovo.

		Owen Aims For Shoot-Em-Up Clive Owen is lined up to star in Shoot-Em-Up. It's described as an "ultraviolent" thriller by indie writer/director Michael Davis. Owen will play a mysterious stranger who sets out to protect a newborn baby from homicidal criminals. Shocking set pieces include a shootout during a sex scene and another in the midst of a freefall. The kids'll love it! Cameras roll in January with a view to release in late 2006.

		Knoxville Knocks Over Banks Johnny Knoxville is sniffing around Stolen Season, a baseball/bank robbing comedy just purchased by Warner Bros for a six-figure sum. If the deal goes ahead, Knoxville would star as real-life baseball player Rick Dempsey, who used the sporting tour to rob a string of banks along the California coast. It turns out the team's coach was the criminal mastermind behind the operation. Writing the script is John Raffo whose previous credits include Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story and, um, crime caper Johnny Skidmarks. Classy.

		Murphy Joins Dreamgirls Eddie Murphy will join Beyoncé Knowles and Jamie Foxx in DreamWorks' screen version of the Tony Award-winning musical Dreamgirls. Chicago scribe Bill Condon is writing and directing the script about the ups and downs of a trio of 60s Motown singers. It's said to be loosely based on the real-life rise to fame of Diana Ross and The Supremes. Murphy will play superstar singer James 'Thunder' Early for whom the girls sing back-up before taking the world by storm as The Dreamettes.

		And Finally... Old School helmer Todd Phillips will direct The Dogs Of Babel, an adaptation of Carolyn Parkhurst's best-selling novel. It's about a grieving linguistics professor who tries to communicate with his dog since the mutt is the only witness to the death of his wife. We assume it's a comedy... Stanley Tucci, Rhys Ifans and Hugh Bonneville are starring in BBC Films' comic drama Four Last Songs, which has just started shooting in Majorca. Francesca Joseph (Tomorrow La Scala!) penned the script and is directing the tale of a motley group of characters "seeking musical redemption". In other words, Tomorrow La Scala!: Redux... Director (and part-time King Of The World) James Cameron is putting Battle Angel on the backburner. The sci-fi thriller, which was due to shoot in December, is languishing in development hell. Instead, Cameron is readying a parallel script known only as Project 880. There's no word on the plot, but it will be shot in 3D with an advanced version of the motion-capture technology used in The Polar Express. Anyone else get that sinking feeling?