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Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino has spent a second week at number one in Australia.

The crime drama holds off competition from the BAFTA-winning Slumdog Millionaire, which remains in second spot.

Jason Statham's action franchise Transporter 3 enters at three, while Angelina Jolie's Changeling debuts at four.

Elsewhere, Baz Lurhmann's epic Australia retains ninth and family comedy Hotel For Dogs slips to tenth.

The top ten in full:

1. (1) Gran Torino - $1,097,755
2. (2) Slumdog Millionaire -$832,423
3. (-) Transporter 3 - $772,526
4. (-) Changeling - $658,805
5. (3) Bride Wars - $537,935
6. (4) Valkyrie - $460,669
7. (7) Role Models - $323,102
8. (5) Underworld: Rise Of The Lycans - $321,934
9. (9) Australia - $285,774
10. (6) Hotel For Dogs - $252,039

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Noel Clarke has said that his BAFTA victory is an example of what children raised on council estates can achieve.

The Doctor Who actor and writer-director of Adulthood won the Orange Rising Star Award at Sunday's ceremony.

He beat off competition from Michael Cera, Rebecca Hall, Toby Kebbell and Michael Fassbender for the award, which was voted for by the public.

On his victory, Clarke told The Sun: "It speaks volumes about what is happening in the world.

"If I'm not testament that a council estate kid can do all right then I don't know what is."

Clarke recently confirmed that he will not be appearing in any more episodes of Doctor Who.

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Eva Green and new Doctor Who star Matt Smith have signed up for futuristic drama Womb.

The project, which tackles the controversial subject of human cloning, is Hungarian director Benedek Fliegauf's first English-language film.

Green will play a grieving widow who decides to clone her late husband, according to Variety. Smith's role in the film has not been confirmed.

“Womb is one of the most touching and impressive love stories we have read in recent times,” said Match Factory's Michael Weber, who is handling the film's international sales.

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Aaron Eckhart and Richard Jenkins have reportedly joined the cast of Hunter S. Thompson adaptation The Rum Diary.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Eckhart is in negotiations to play Sanderson, a wealthy landowner who introduces hard-up journalist Paul Kemp (Depp) to a different standard of living but ends up vying with him over the affections of Chenault (Amber Heard).

Jenkins will star as Lotterman, the man who oversees the newspaper where Kemp works.

Eckhart recently appeared as Harvey Dent/Two-Face in The Dark Knight, while Jenkins has received an Oscar nomination for his role in The Visitor.

Withnail And I's Bruce Robinson will adapt and direct the project.

Filming is scheduled to begin in Puerto Rico on March 30.

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The Office star John Krasinski has been added to the cast of Nancy Meyers' latest rom-com.

Krasinski, who plays Jim Halpert in the NBC comedy, previously worked with Meyers on The Holiday.

The new project's cast already includes Meryl Streep, Steve Martin, Alec Baldwin, Weeds star Hunter Parrish, Lake Bell and Zoe Kazan.

It is not known what role Krasinski will play in the movie, which is based around a love triangle between Streep, Martin and Baldwin.

Meyers's credits include Something's Gotta Give, What Women Want and the Father Of The Bride franchise.

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Universal has acquired the rights to Spencer Quinn's novel Dog On It: A Chet and Bernie Mystery, reports Variety.

The book, which is published by Simon & Schuster, is written from the point of view of Chet, a dog that failed at K-9 school. Chet accompanies a down-on-his-luck private eye called Bernie, who is attempting to solve a missing persons case.

Universal beat New Line and Summit to the movie package.

Hotel For Dogs and John Tucker Must Die writer Jeff Lowell is penning the script.

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Action producer Joel Silver will oversee heist thriller Conviction for Warner Bros.

Silver, whose credits include the Lethal Weapon and Matrix series, has agreed a six-figure deal to pick up newcomer Jonathan Herman's script, reports Variety.

The movie will follow a criminal serving a five-year prison term for his involvement in a failed heist. He is hired by an FBI agent to prevent his protégé from pulling off another robbery.

Silver is also working on action movie Fully Automatic and a reworking of He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe.

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Mickey Rourke reportedly wants rival Sean Penn to win the Oscar for best actor at this month's ceremony.

The star claimed that Penn helped him to turn his life around during his well-documented problems in the mid-1990s, WENN reports.

Rourke has been nominated for his part in Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler while Penn is up for the same award for the title role in the biopic Milk.

"Sean Penn is a good friend of mine," Rourke said.

"When I was down and out, he got hold of me and told me exactly what to do and not to do. I owe him so much that I hope he wins the award."

Earlier this month, it was claimed that Rourke and Penn had resolved their differences over drinks at the Sunset Tower in Hollywood, following reports that Rourke had previously called Penn homophobic.

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Toby Jones has again hinted that he will reprise his role of Dobby the house elf in the next Harry Potter film.

In an interview with thelondonpaper, the Frost/Nixon actor was asked if he would return to the role he first played in Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets.

Jones said: "I believe so. It's all highly secret but I'm led to believe that Dobby will be back."

He added that he got the part in that film after he nearly ruined his voice during a West End production.

"You speak at such an unnaturally high pitch that people go: 'He's a shoo-in for an elf isn't he?'"

Jones said he could not comment on claims that the elf was modelled on Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

Last year, producer David Heyman revealed that a number of plot points would be removed for the film version of Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince.

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Hilary Duff has defended comments that she made about Faye Dunaway.

The former Lizzie McGuire star's casting in a remake of Dunaway's 1967 film Bonnie And Clyde reportedly prompted the actress to remark: "Couldn't they at least cast a real actress?"

Speaking to E! News, Duff retorted by saying, "I might be mad if I looked like that too," adding that none of her fans would even know who Dunaway was.

Appearing on The Bonnie Hunt Show, Duff admitted that her insults were mean, but insisted that "it's not okay for people to take stabs at you and to say mean things for no reason".

The 21-year-old added that Dunaway failed to appreciate that she was only young and still learning, saying: "She started acting way later than I did, so I think I have time to grow with each project. I am learning and work hard at my craft."

The Story Of Bonnie And Clyde, starring Duff and Kevin Zegers, is scheduled for release in 2010.

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Brad Pitt's The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button has landed the UK box office top spot.

The Oscar-nominated F. Scott Fitzgerald adaptation took £2.2 million in its opening week, beating Jennifer Aniston's latest rom-com He's Just Not That Into You, which settles for second.

Elsewhere, children's fantasy The Secret Of Moonacre debuts at seven, while Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman's drama Doubt enters at ten.

The top ten in full:

1. (-) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - £2,213,495
2. (-) He's Just Not That Into You - £1,913,542
3. (1) Slumdog Millionaire - £1,587,819
4. (2) Valkyrie - £632,463
5. (3) Revolutionary Road - £508,956
6. (4) My Bloody Valentine - £339,447
7. (-) The Secret of Moonacre - £308,099
8. (8) Role Models - £295,946
9. (6) Seven Pounds - £282,283
10. (-) Doubt - £253,097

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Josh Brolin and Anthony Hopkins have signed up to star in Woody Allen's latest London-set movie, reports Variety.

The pair are the first actors to board the ensemble project, which Allen wrote and will film in the UK this summer. It will be his third movie based in London following Match Point and Scoop. Plot details have yet to be revealed.

Brolin recently starred in political drama Milk and will next appear in comic book adaptation Jonah Hex. Hopkins's next big screen appearance is opposite Benicio Del Toro in The Wolf Man.

Allen's latest movie, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, opens in UK cinemas this Friday

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James Franco has admitted that he had no idea who Harvey Milk was before starring in the biopic of his life.

The actor, who plays boyfriend Scott Smith in the movie Milk, was forced to research the politician's life and learn about the gay rights movement before accepting the role.

"I wasn't aware of him, which is sad I think, especially considering I grew up less than an hour away from San Fransisco," he told Attitude.

"So when I heard that Gus Van Sant was doing this movie about this guy called Harvey Milk, I did some research and learned what the story was. It was surprising I didn't know anything about him before.

"I saw that as one of the more important aspects of the movie that it would really get his story out; they're not going to teach it in schools, you know."

Franco added that doing extensive research had helped him get into the character's role.

"I was just focusing on who he was and he didn't seem like a particularly flamboyant personality. I never thought 'I'm playing a gay character and I had better indicate that.'"

Milk is out now in cinemas nationwide and is released on DVD on June 1.

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Sam Rockwell has joined the cast of Hilary Swank's legal drama Betty Anne Waters, says The Hollywood Reporter.

The film, based on a true story, centres on an unemployed single mother who spends ten years earning a law degree to prove that her jailed brother is innocent of murder.

Minnie Driver is also among the cast as a law student with a chequered past. Tony Goldwyn will direct from a script by Richard LaGravenese and Pamela Gray.

Frost/Nixon star Rockwell recently signed up to play villain Justin Hammer in Iron Man 2

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Will Smith has been named the most bankable performer in Hollywood.

The I Am Legend star topped the inaugural Forbes Star Currency List, which measures an actor's overall financial success in the industry.

Around 150 entertainment industry members were asked to fill out the survey, which provided a scale for ranking over 1,400 actors.

The final list was based on a combination of box office figures, ability to attract funding and distribtion and whether their presence in a film could "significantly drive box office performance".

John Burman, special projects director for Forbes, said that Smith could "star in any movie genre", adding: "He can move from doing the pop film to an Ali to a Seven Pounds to The Pursuit of Happyness, so he's able to play in all worlds and I think people just like watching him on screen."

Smith received a perfect ten, beating competition from Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, who all tied for second place with a score of 9.89.

The only women in the top 20 were Julia Roberts (11) and Meryl Streep (16). Transformers star Shia LaBeouf was the youngest star to make the list, coming in at number 33.

Smith's films, including Independence Day, Men In Black and Hancock, have grossed more than $5.2 billion worldwide.

The top ten most bankable stars in Hollywood are:

1. Will Smith
2. Johnny Depp
3. Leonardo DiCaprio
4. Angelina Jolie
5. Brad Pitt
6. Tom Hanks
7. George Clooney
8. Denzel Washington
9. Matt Damon
10. Jack Nicholson

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Zachary Levi has been cast in Alvin And The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, says The Hollywood Reporter.

Levi, the star of NBC's action series Chuck, will appear opposite the singing rodents in the Betty Thomas-helmed sequel. He will play the cousin of Jason Lee's character from the first movie.

Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler and Jesse McCartney will return to voice the Chipmunks, while their rivals the Chipettes (Brittany, Jeanette and Eleanor) will be introduced in the sequel.

The first Chipmunks movie was a surprise success on its release in 2007, pulling in more than $350 million at the worldwide box office.

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Adam Sandler, Chris Rock and Kevin James will lead the cast of a new comedy project from Columbia.

According to Variety, the trio are in talks to star in the movie along with Rob Schneider and David Spade. The story centres on five high school friends who reunite 30 years after graduation for an Independence Day weekend.

Sandler worked on the screenplay with Fred Wolf, the writer behind Spade's Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star. Dennis Dugan, who helmed Sandler's You Don't Mess With The Zohan, is attached to direct.

The five actors have all crossed paths over their careers, but this will be the first time they have all featured in the same film. Sandler's recent hairdresser comedy Zohan included appearances from Schneider, James and Rock.

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Screenwriter Tony Kushner has claimed that Steven Spielberg's Abraham Lincoln biopic may be in cinemas by Christmas.

According to Hollywood Elsewhere, Kushner revealed at a Harvard discussion on the 16th US President that DreamWorks will make a decision on the film this week and, should it receive a greenlight, it will be completed and ready for release by the end of the year.

Kushner said that his script "covers two months of his life" and the 13th Amendment - the abolition of slavery and involuntary servitude - plays a significant part in the story.

Liam Neeson is attached to play Lincoln, who was assassinated on April 15, 1865, while Sally Field has been rumoured for the role of First Lady Mary and Harrison Ford as Vice President and eventual White House successor Andrew Johnson.

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The Departed writer William Monahan will reportedly direct crime thriller Heist, based on the life of career criminal Myles Connor.

According to Variety, Monahan has acquired the rights to Connor's forthcoming memoirs in partnership with producer Quentin Curtis.

The Art Of The Heist: Confessions Of A Master Thief, Rock-And-Roller And Prodigal Son will follow Connor, who began his career as a backing musician for Roy Orbison, as he becomes an accomplished art and antiques thief in Boston in the 1970s and '80s.

Monahan, who won an Oscar for writing The Departed, has not revealed whether he will be penning the script for Heist.

He will make his directorial debut with London Boulevard, which begins production this June.

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Audrey Hepburn has been named the ultimate screen beauty in a survey of Hollywood actresses through the years.

The Breakfast At Tiffany's star, who died in 1993, beat competition from Angelina Jolie and Grace Kelly to be named the most beautiful screen siren of all time.

Around 2,000 movie fans took part in the survey which was commissioned by Sky+ HD.

"A great cinematic beauty by definition has to look amazing in motion, not just in pictures," Vogue's Nicola Moulton told the Daily Telegraph. "Audrey Hepburn is clearly a timeless beauty, explaining why she is the nation's choice."

Only four British actresses made the top 20: Catherine Zeta Jones (6), Elizabeth Taylor (7), Keira Knightley (8) and Vivien Leigh (12).

Modern stars to make the list included Halle Berry (9), Julia Roberts (11), Cameron Diaz (14) and Jennifer Aniston (18).

The ten most timeless beauties are:

1. Audrey Hepburn
2. Angelina Jolie
3. Grace Kelly
4. Marilyn Monroe
5. Sophia Loren
6. Catherine Zeta Jones
7. Elizabeth Taylor
8. Keira Knightley
9. Halle Berry
10. Brigitte Bardot