William Hurt is to take the lead role in Blue Butterfly, a drama based on the real-life friendship between the founder of the Montreal Insectarium, George Brossard, and a ten-year-old boy. Hurt will play a fictitious entomologist who travels to the jungles of Central America to find a rare butterfly that may be able to cure the child's cancer. Filming in Costa Rica is expected to last until the beginning of May before switching to Canada.

David Goyer of Blade fame is to direct another vampire tale, Darksiders, sometime after June. The story centres on a group of vampires who become employed by the FBI. Goyer will also write Blade III. Blade II, in which Wesley Snipes reprises his role as the high-kicking, do-gooding vampire, stormed to the top of the American box office charts following its release last week, with takings of $33.1m (£24m).

Roy Rogers and Dale Evans are dusting down their chaps and preparing to ride out again in a series of films and TV shows. Producers Lawrence Bender and Kevin Brown have signed a deal with representatives of the Rogers family to resurrect the popular cowboy heroes, who rose to prominence in a long-running Fifties TV show. "Though they still have a strong following, people don't realize that Roy was very much like the character he played," Brown said. "He was an uncomplicated hero, and that's what we liked about him." No casting details have been announced.