BBC - Movies -news article - High Noon

		Rush Returns To Golden Age Hollywood heavyweights Geoffrey Rush and Clive Owen have signed up for The Golden Age, director Shekhar Kapur's sequel to Elizabeth. Rush is slotting back into his old role as the manipulative Sir Francis Walsingham, who cemented the Virgin Queen's reign in the first movie. According to Variety, this new installment will focus on the relationship between Elizabeth (Cate Blanchett again) and Sir Walter Raleigh, played by Owen. Funny, we never realised the renowned Sir Walter was really a grumpy mumbling cockney.

		Hayden Under The Knife You'd think that Revenge Of The Sith star Hayden Christensen would have endured enough painful surgery after his transformation into Darth Vader, but apparently not. The pouty star has signed up for Awake, a psychological thriller about a man suffering from "anaesthetic awareness" - in other words he's wide awake on the operating table, but can't move. Producer Joana Vicente told Variety that the film "will do to surgery what Jaws did to swimming". Jessica Alba is playing Hayden's wife, so that's some consolation for the poor chap.

		Farewell Mr Bronson The actor Michael Sheard, who played the ill-fated Admiral Ozzel in The Empire Strikes Back, has died of cancer. He was 65. A consummate character actor, Sheard had a long and varied career in Hollywood, appearing in more than 40 films and playing Adolf Hitler several times - once in Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade. However, British viewers are likely to remember him best as Mr Bronson, Grange Hill's toupéd tyrant and the teacher everybody loved to hate. He is survived by a wife and three children.

		Shepard Joins Pitt's Gang Playwright and occasional movie star Sam Shepard has signed up for a role in Brad Pitt's snappily titled western The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford. According to the Hollywood Reporter it's the story of legendary outlaw Jesse James and his resentful gang rival Robert Ford, but you can guess the rest from the title. Pitt is James, naturally, and Shepard is playing his less good-looking brother Frank. Casey Affleck is that cowardly Robert Ford. Rumour has it that Pitt is considering new, super-explanatory titles for his movie back catalogue. Ocean's Eleven, for instance, would become The Story Of A Bunch Of Smug Guys In Sharp Suits Who Robbed A Casino.

		Neeson Hunts Brosnan Now officially free of James Bond, Pierce Brosnan has signed up for a role in Seraphim Falls, an American Civil war drama, according to Production Weekly. Brosnan will co-star with Liam Neeson in the film, which begins shooting in New Mexico next month. Neeson plays an army colonel with a vendetta against Brosnan's character, whom he pursues across the country. Veteran TV director David Von Ancken, a regular on US crime shows like CSI and The Shield, makes his feature debut on the film, which is described as a "psychological action movie".