BBC - Movies -news article - High Noon

		Foxx Taps New Blood Jamie Foxx has hired award-winning TV director George C Wolfe to direct him in Blood On The Leaves. As well as starring, Foxx is also producing this drama, based on the novel by Jeffrey Stetson. The story centres on a lawyer grappling with feelings of revenge as he prosecutes a black history professor, on trial for the murders of white men accused of race crimes during the Civil Rights movement. The search is ongoing for a second male lead. And right about now, James Woods is calling is agent.

		Moore & Holmes Up For Nine According to the gossip pages of The New York Post, Demi Moore and Katie Holmes are vying for roles in Nine. That's the latest musical by Chicago helmer Rob Marshall, who is said to have auditioned both women last week. Renee Zellweger and Catherine Zeta Jones are also thought to be in the running, but there are plenty of female roles to go around. A womanising film director is at the centre of the plot, reflecting on all of his failed relationships, after a string of box office flops propels him towards a nervous breakdown. Antonio Banderas played the part in a Broadway staging, so he could just as well end up in the film. The rumour starts here!

		Hawke & Dafoe Do Daybreakers Ethan Hawke will star opposite Willem Dafoe in Daybreakers, reports IMDb. This futuristic vampire flick from brothers Michael and Peter Spiering is set to shoot in Australia. "Willem Dafoe and I are duelling vampires," explains the shaggy thesp. "It's a vampire movie set way in the future, where everyone is a vampire and we're all eating our own resources, so we're trying to get off on foreign humans." He adds, "It's a big analogy about what's going on now. It's really dark and weird and everybody's sucking each other's blood." Note to self: never accept a dinner invitation from Ethan Hawke.

		Roundtree On Track For Racer The original Shaft, Richard Roundtree is buckling up for Speed Racer. That's the live-action adaptation of a Japanese cartoon from directors Larry and Andy Wachowski. Emile Hirsch stars as an upstart racecar driver who, while on a quest for glory, learns a few lessons in family values. It's basically Days Of Thunder meets The Waltons. Is that the smell of a burnt rubber...? Roundtree will play Ben Burns, a racer-turned-commentator and iconic hero to the young 'uns. He joins Christina Ricci, Susan Sarandon, John Goodman and Matthew Fox who are already on set in Berlin. Check out our report here.

		Willis Trampled In Rat Race Ratatouille is boiling hot in the US. The Disney-Pixar toon has opened at No.1 with $47.2m (£23.5m), beating Bruce Willis actioner Die Hard 4.0, which took $33.2m (£16.5m) for second place. Americans are already taking time off to celebrate Independence Day, so it's not surprising that a family film should have the edge. Disney suit Chuck Viane reckons, "When the picnic tables fill up this week, people will be talking about Ratatouille." It tastes great on hotdogs. On this side of the pond, animated caper Shrek The Third is sitting pretty (ugly, whatever) with a whopping $31m (£15.4m). That's a lot of greenbacks.