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Tom Wheeler has been hired to write DreamWorks Animation's Shrek spinoff Puss In Boots, says The Hollywood Reporter.

The movie will follow the adventures of the cat assassin voiced by Antonio Banderas, who first appeared in Shrek 2. Initially sent to kill Shrek, Puss In Boots later become an ally of the green ogre and appeared in Shrek 3.

The spinoff will arrive after Shrek Goes Fourth, due for release on May 21, 2010. No director is attached to Puss In Boots.

Wheeler, a screenwriter and novelist, is also working on ABC pilot Captain Cook's Extraordinary Atlas and Shawn Levy's Cutlass Island.

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The family of a stuntman injured on the set of the latest Harry Potter film have thanked well-wishers for their thoughts and prayers.

David Holmes was taken to hospital with a back injury after reportedly falling to the ground on set when a planned aerial stunt went wrong.

Holmes's family said in a statement that they are "trusting in the expertise of the medical staff".

The 25-year-old, who doubles for the film's star Daniel Radcliffe, was working at Leavesden Studios, near Watford, where Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows is currently in pre-production.

"We would like to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers. We are trusting in the expertise of the medical staff," the family's statement read.

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Jeffrey Dean Morgan has reportedly signed to star alongside Hilary Swank in The Resident.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Watchmen actor will star as a landlord who develops a dangerous obsession with one of his residents, a young doctor played by Swank.

Music video director Antti K. Jokinen, who co-wrote the initial script, will helm the project for UK-based production company Hammer Films.

Filming is due to begin in May with a scheduled 2010 release date.

Morgan and Swank previously appeared together in 2007's PS I Love You. His other screen credits include recurring roles in Grey's Anatomy and Supernatural.

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Author Stephenie Meyer has no plans to resume work on a fifth book in her Twilight saga.

Meyer abandoned the book last August after an unfinished manuscript for the novel, titled Midnight Sun, found its way online.

"I feel too sad about what has happened to continue working on Midnight Sun, so it is on hold indefinitely," she wrote on her website. "I'd rather my fans not read this version... the writing is messy and flawed and full of mistakes. But how do I comment on this violation without driving more people to look for the illegal posting?"

A representative for Meyer revealed that she is now working on a new novel, saying: "Nothing's changed. Stephenie has no plans to move forward with Midnight Sun at this time.

"Stephenie is working on something else at the moment. But she hasn't announced it yet. It isn't Twilight-related. When she's ready to reveal it, she will. This has been an intense three years for her, and currently she's just focusing on being a writer."

The next instalment in the Twilight film series, New Moon, is scheduled for release in November.

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The man behind recent Biggie Smalls biopic Notorious has revealed that he is planning to bring the story of Run DMC to the big screen.

Screenwriter Cheo Hodari Coker will adapt Bill Adler's Tougher Than Leather - The Rise Of Run DMC for DJ Classicz, the urban department at Davis Entertainment.

"It's an extraordinary rags-to-riches journey that I'm eager to bring to the screen," DJ Classicz president Dallas Jackson told Reuters.

"I'm hoping to have Run, DMC and Russell Simmons's involvement. This will be a big movie about the 1980s hip-hop movement that took over the world."

The story will follow the ascent of hip-hops pioneering stars Joseph 'Run' Simmons, Darryl 'DMC' McDaniels and Jason 'Jam Master Jay' Mizzell, who rose to fame with hits including 'Walk This Way' and 'It's Like That'.

Run DMC retired following the death of Mizzell in a drive-by shooting outside his studio in October 2002.

The band will be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in Cleveland on April 4.

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Cameron Diaz's British boyfriend has reportedly landed his debut movie role.

According to The Sun, Paul Sculfor has joined the cast of forthcoming horror film Vivid.

The Essex-born model will star alongside former Buffy The Vampire Slayer actress Charisma Carpenter and ex-Darkness singer Justin Hawkins.

"Cameron has shown him the tricks of the trade," revealed an insider.

Vivid tells the story of an American novelist who moves to the English countryside and begins having visions of a massacre that happened years ago.

The movie, which will film on location in London and Somerset, began production earlier this week.

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Rick Astley has announced that he is writing a script based around his songs.

The singer has teamed up with a friend to create a big screen musical.

"My wife's now a movie producer so I read a lot of scripts and I’m really passionate about films," he told The Times.

"One day I thought, 'Well, why don't I write one?' And it turned into a musical - but not for the stage. It's dominated by the songs I've written - they tell the stories - so I hooked up with a guy in California and we wrote the script together. We're at the point of speaking to a few different agents and getting people to read."

"I'm not fooling myself - nothing may come of it and I totally understand that, but as a process I have loved it. When you're writing frothy pop songs the lyrics can be a bit 'whatever', they are hooky and you just sing them because they work. But writing these songs… Do they call that a libretto?"

Astley added that he did not take offence to being the subject of "Rickrolling", the recent phenomenon that sees internet users misdirected to the star's 'Never Going To Give You Up' video.

"It's not about me, is it? It probably started with some kid in Smallsville Arizona who wanted a naff '80s video to trick his friend with, and he chose mine," he joked.

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The Screen Actors Guild will resume negotiations with major Hollywood studios next week in a bid to end the dispute over actors' pay.

The union and the studios' representative, the Alliance of Motion Picture And Television Producers, are scheduled to begin new talks on Tuesday.

SAG members have been without a film and television contract since their old deal expired last June. Contract discussions reportedly stalled after both sides disagreed on how much profit actors should receive from new media, particularly the internet.

However, the union has fired its chief negotiator Doug Allen following a majority vote by members just a few hours after the 15th annual SAG awards.

Allen had been in favour of asking the 120,000 union members if they were happy with the current offer or whether they would prefer to vote for a strike, which would effectively shut down Hollywood.

The new discussions are expected to last for two days.

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Mickey Rourke has been cast in Indian filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra's Hollywood debut Broken Horses.

Details on the project are being kept under wraps, but the movie is a "gangster caper" that will shoot in New Mexico and New York. Chopra will direct from a script by Abhijat Joshi and Jason Richman.

Chopra selected Rourke for a part after seeing him in an early screening of The Wrestler.

"I was bowled over by his performance," the director told The Hollywood Reporter. "Both of us had an instant connect when we met in Los Angeles.

"He was my first choice and was finalised even before he won the Golden Globe; it's great to have him on board for one of the key roles in the film. Mickey deserves all the acclaim he is getting and I hope he wins the Oscar as well."

Chopra, well-known in his native India, has directed Parinda, Mission Kashmir and 2007's Eklavya.

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Scarlett Johansson has made known her desire to work with Sweeney Todd director Tim Burton.

Speaking to MTV, the actress revealed that she wants to add Burton to the list of A-list directors she has collaborated with.

"I would love to work with Tim Burton. I am a huge Tim Burton fan," she said.

Johansson has previously appeared in films by Woody Allen, Christopher Nolan, Brian De Palma and Sofia Coppola.

The 24-year-old also hinted that she may take time out from acting to work behind the camera.

"It's kind of the first time in a while that I don't really know what I'm going to be doing," she said. "But I directed a segment for New York, I Love You. That's going to be coming out. I'm hoping to do more development, production and direction. Stuff like that."

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Tom Tykwer and The Wachowskis will write a film adaptation of David Mitchell's book Cloud Atlas.

Tykwer, the director of Run, Lola, Run and upcoming thriller The International, confirmed his involvement with the project to First Showing.

He said: "I'm trying to adapt a novel called Cloud Atlas, which is a novel by David Mitchell that I'm really completely excited about. And I'm sitting down with the Wachowski Brothers and trying to adapt that for a screenplay. It's very interesting."

Cloud Atlas is made up of six loosely connected narratives which mix history, science, suspense, humour and pathos. Tykwer said that the movie will move "from Melvillean high-seas drama to California noir and dystopian fantasy".

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Kristen Stewart has claimed that she is "exceedingly excited" to be playing Joan Jett in forthcoming biopic The Runaways.

Speaking to MTV, the Twilight actress revealed that she has been spending time with the influential rocker in preparation for the role.

"I spent New Year’s with her. I spent, like hours, just talking to her," she said. "I'm like vibrating. I'm just so excited about that movie.

"I’m really, exceedingly, more excited than normal."

Jett fronted all-girl rock band The Runaways alongside Lita Ford. She is famous for hit songs including 'I Love Rock N' Roll' and 'Bad Reputation'.

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Dakota Blue Richards has revealed that she is keen to take on more "strong female" roles as she continues with her acting career.

The 14-year-old star rose to fame after taking on the role of Lyra Belacqua in a movie adaptation of Philip Pullman's bestselling novel The Golden Compass in 2007.

Richards is currently promoting her lead part in another fantasy film, The Secret of Moonacre, which is based on Elizabeth Goudge's children's story The Little White Horse.

"I flicked through the script, read the scene I had to learn, auditioned and got the part in the same day," Richards explained in an interview with the Liverpool Daily Post.

"These films both had strong female main characters," she continued. "I like fantasy, but I don't think that there are a lot of strong female characters around."

The Secret of Moonacre is released in cinemas in the UK on February 6.

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An Italian office worker has reportedly filed a lawsuit claiming that The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button is based on a story she wrote.

Adriana Pichini claims that the Oscar-nominated film is based on a tale she wrote in 1994 called Il Ritorno Di Arthur All'innocenza (Arthur's Return To Innocence), not a 1921 short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Her lawyer Gianni Massaro said a file has been opened with the Rome Tribunal Court, reports Reuters. A judge will view the movie and determine if there are enough similarities to warrant further investigation.

"At this point it's still a matter of principle. What happens next will depend on what the judge rules," Massaro said.

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Denzel Washington has topped a poll of America's favourite movie stars for the third year in a row.

Second place in The Harris Poll went to Clint Eastwood, while the third spot was tied between the late John Wayne and Will Smith.

Harrison Ford came in fifth, with Julia Roberts following him to sixth place. Tom Hanks, Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman rounded off the top ten list.

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There's a reason oddsmakers don't think Slumdog Millionaire is an Oscar underdog. It's not.
The India-set indie cemented its front-runner status with a win tonight for Danny Boyle at the 61st Annual Directors Guild of America Awards.
The Office, The Wire, Recount and America's Next Top Model were among the honorees in the TV categories.
Boyle beat out David Fincher (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), Ron Howard (Frost/Nixon) and Gus Van Sant (Milk), all of whom he'll face at the Oscars, plus Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight), whom he won't.
Since 1948, the DGA winner's only missed out the Oscar six times. Half of those instances, however, have occurred since 1995. Ang Lee is the last DGA winner to win Best Director, and not see his film (2005's Brokeback Mountain) win Best Picture, too.
Slumdog's DGA win comes one week after it claimed top prizes from the producers and actors guilds.
Carl Reiner, who was to host tonight's ceremony, was a last-minute scratch (food poisoning, Variety reported). Jon Cryer was a last-minute substitute.

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Roman Polanski has apparently avoided the need to return to the US or UK by building replica scenes for his latest film in a German film studio.

The director's forthcoming movie The Ghost, which will begin filming later this year, includes crucial scenes in New England and London, reports WENN.

Polanski has been living in France for the past 32 years after fleeing the US following conviction for having sex with a 13-year-old girl. To avoid arrest by returning to America, or extradition from the UK, he has arranged for fake scenes to be built in Germany.

The movie is based on Robert Harris's novel and stars Pierce Brosnan, Kim Cattrall, Ewan McGregor, Tom Wilkinson, and Jim Belushi.

A lawyer recently said that the Polish-born filmmaker has no plans to return to America after the 75-year-old filed a request asking a Californian court to throw out the charge. The legal representative insisted that he only filed the suit to clear his name.

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Disney Interactive Studios is rumoured to be working on a game adaptation of the upcoming TRON sequel.

The follow-up to the '80s cult hit is not expected to arrive until around 2011, but Disney has already begun seeking potential developers for game tie-in, reports Variety.

The report follows news of layoffs and downsizing at Disney’s gaming division.

The 1982 film was previously given a game adaptation in 2003 in the shape of Buena Vista Games’s TRON 2.0.

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The stuntman injured on the set of the latest Harry Potter film has vowed that he "will be back".

According to The Telegraph, David Holmes is still unable to move his hands or legs after plunging to the ground while rehearsing an aerial sequence for Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows.

However, Holmes has updated his Facebook page to read: "David wants to thank everyone for their kind thoughts and wishes.

"And don't worry... the stunt-runt will be back."

Holmes, who is Daniel Radcliffe's stunt double, was taken to a North London hospital following the accident last Wednesday.

Last week, the stuntman's family issued a statement thanking the public for their prayers and support.

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Liam Neeson's Taken has topped the US box office on its first weekend on release.

The Fox action thriller, about an ex spy who travels to France to rescue his kidnapped daughter, ends Paul Blart: Mall Cop's two-week reign at the head of the chart.

Mall Cop slips to number two, while last week's runner-up, Underworld: Rise Of The Lycans, plummets five places with a 65% drop in ticket sales.

Elsewhere, the chart sees new entries from horror remake The Uninvited at three and a disappointing opening for Renée Zellweger rom-com New In Town in eighth place.

The US box office top ten:

1. (-) Taken - $24,625,000
2. (1) Paul Blart: Mall Cop - $14,000,000
3. (-) The Uninvited - $10,512,000
4. (4) Hotel For Dogs - $8,706,000
5. (3) Gran Torino - $8,600,000
6. (5) Slumdog Millionaire - $7,680,000
7. (2) Underworld: Rise Of The Lycans - $7,200,000
8. (-) New In Town - $6,750,000
9. (6) My Bloody Valentine 3D - $4,260,000
10. (7) Inkheart - $3,700,000