• Pierce Brosnan has been making provocative noises about the next Bond film, which is in development. "We finally have a script now," reports the Irish smoothie. "So we'll be forging ahead with the next film. I'm on record as saying that I want this next Bond to be the most surprising and realistic of any I've done. I don't know why that frightens the studio and the producers so much."
• Clint Eastwood is to bring the bestselling thriller Mystic River to the silver screen. Eastwood will produce and direct the story of three childhood friends who split up after a tragic incident, but who meet years later when they get involved in a murder investigation.
• The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences might have to go to trial to prove that tickets to Oscar night are non-transferable, after a three-judge panel ruled that the California Court of Appeal was wrong last year to prohibit the company World Sports Group from buying and selling Academy Award tickets. Academy spokesman John Pavlik said, "The Academy will continue to prosecute this case until it is resolved." The Academy pressed charges after the 1998 Oscar bash, when it learned that company chief Rey Olsen was selling tickets to the event. On Oscar night, a couple, who had won tickets sold by a former member of the Academy in a radio contest, were asked to leave. The latest hitch for Oscar organisers comes a week after they attempted to force website Taketoauction.com to stop its auction of tickets to the movie beanfeast (see earlier story).
• Recently retired footballer Stan Collymore wants to follow Vinnie Jones' example by becoming a Hollywood star. Amid press reports claiming that the wayward striker has already had offers from film companies, Collymore's agent Ian Monk told the Daily Star, "He's had a couple of offers which we haven't looked at in detail yet. But Vinnie has shown how an ex-footballer can make it big in movies and I'm sure Stan could be a success too."
• Former Python Eric Idle is at work on a sequel to his spoof 1978 documentary The Rutles, which parodied the success of The Beatles. Idle claims to have unearthed outtakes and unseen film from the movie, which he is editing into a new film, The Rutles: Evolution. "I have an extraordinary cast," says the 57-year-old wag. "Tom Hanks, Robin Williams, Steve Martin, Salman Rushdie, Garry Shandling - they are all talking [in the new film] about the influence of the Rutles on their lives and music."
