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Mickey Rourke and Scarlett Johansson have been officially confirmed for the Iron Man sequel - by the film's star, Robert Downey, Jr.

After weeks of speculation, Downey, Jr. reveals the pair will play villains in the film.

He says, "They are both cast and doing Iron Man 2. Garry Shandling is in the film. Of course we have Don Cheadle. We have Sam Jackson. We have Sam Rockwell. And we, of course, have, my dearest heart, Gwyneth Paltrow."

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Cuba Gooding, Terrence Howard Star in George Lucas' Latest War

It's not only war that's hell—war movies, too, can take their toll.

Luckily for George Lucas, his would-be WWII epic nearly two decades in the making, is almost ready to go into production, with two more big-name castmembers signed on to take part.

Cuba Gooding Jr. and Terrence Howard have joined the cast of Lucas' long-in-development Red Tails, an action-adventure flick centering on the young fighters who overcame racial barriers to fight as the Tuskegee Airmen.

"I've been wanting to do Red Tails for 20 years, and we've finally got the means to showcase the skill of the Tuskegee pilots," Lucas said. "We're working on techniques which will give us the first true look at the aerial dogfighting of the era."

The duo round out the previously cast Bryan Cranston, Ne-Yo, Method Man, 90210's Tristan Wilds and Nate Kelley, among others.

Lucas will not be helming the flick, instead that honor will fall to director Anthony Hemingway.

Shooting is expected to begin shortly throughout Europe.

In other notable casting news:

•Christina Ricci is set to star as Adam Sandler's next hand-picked—and, if cinematic history is any indication, relatively humorless—leading lady. Per Variety, Ricci will join the funnyman in the porn-themed comedy Born to Be a Star, centering on a small-town nerd who discovers his parents were '70s-era porn stars. Inspired, he embarks on a journey to become the biggest—er, make that most famous porn star of modern times.

•Rob Schneider is flying high with You May Not Kiss the Bride. Per the Hollywood Reporter, the former SNL star will play a daredevil helicopter pilot in the romantic comedy about an American pet photographer who somehow crosses paths with Croatian mobsters during his honeymoon. Dave Annable, Mena Suvari, Katharine McPhee and Vinnie Jones also star. Wonder which one plays the mobster...

•Twelve is the lucky number for Joel Schumacher. The director has enlisted Chace Crawford, Emma Roberts, Rory Culkin, 50 Cent, Ellen Barkin and Kiefer Sutherland to star in the adaptation of the Nick McDonnell novel, according to Variety. The book follows a high school dropout-turned-drug dealer on the Upper East Side whose cousin is murdered and best friend arrested for the crime. In other words, a feel good tale. Shooting starts April 20.

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Zac Efron is reportedly eyeing the lead role in manga adaptation Full Metal Panic.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Efron has met with producers at Mandalay Pictures to discuss taking on the role of a teen anti-terrorist commando who must protect a girl with supernatural powers.

Based on Shoji Gatoh's Japanese TV series, the movie is described as a blend of action, comedy and romance. Efron is also considering starring in action film Jonny Quest for Warner Bros.

Efron's latest movie 17 Again, focusing on a middle-aged man who relives his high school years, is released in cinemas this Friday.

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Jennifer Garner will lead the cast of political satire Butter.

The Kingdom actress has attached herself to the lead role and may also produce the comedy, says The Hollywood Reporter.

Jason Micallef's script revolves around a small-town woman who finds herself taking part in a butter-sculpting contest against the wife of the reigning champion.

"I wanted to do a political satire and I was looking for some venue that people take very seriously but is also ridiculous - like politics - but at the same time is really visual," said Micallef.

Craig Gillespie and Gary Ross have shown interest in helming the project.

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Maria Bello will play Kevin James's wife in the Adam Sandler-led all-star comedy project, says The Hollywood Reporter.

The Columbia Pictures project, which brings together comic stars Sandler, James, Chris Rock, Rob Schneider and David Spade, centres on five school friends who reunite 30 years after graduation.

Salma Hayek recently boarded the film to play Sandler's wife, while Maya Rudolph, Norm McDonald and Steve Buscemi are also thought to be among the ensemble cast.

Dennis Dugan (You Don't Mess With The Zohan) will direct the film, rumoured to be titled Lake House, from a script by Sandler and Fred Wolf.

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Hugh Jackman has admitted that he was "heartbroken" to discover that X-Men Origins: Wolverine had been leaked online one month before its cinema release.

Around 100,000 people are thought to have illegally downloaded the unfinished film from file-sharing websites before it was detected and removed. It is not scheduled for cinematic release until May 1 in the US and April 29 in the UK.

Speaking at a press conference in Sydney, he said: "It's a serious crime and there's no doubt it's very disappointing. I was heartbroken by it. Obviously people are seeing an unfinished film. It's like a Ferrari without a paint job."

Jackman later unveiled around 20 minutes of completed footage from the film to fans at the event, predicting that people would still flock to the cinema despite the leak.

Last week, 20th Century Fox insisted that those responsible for the leak would be "prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law", adding that the FBI was "actively investigating" the incident.

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Gore Verbinski has turned down the chance to direct the fourth Pirates Of The Caribbean movie.

The helmer, who steered the first three entries in the $2 billion franchise, has told Disney and producer Jerry Bruckheimer that he will instead work an Universal's adaptation of the BioShock video game.

Speaking to Variety about his departure, Verbinski said: "I had a fantastic time bringing Pirates to life, and I am eternally grateful to Jerry, Johnny [Depp] and the rest of the creative and production team. I'm looking forward to all of us crossing paths again in the future."

The new Pirates film, due to open in cinemas next year, will see Depp return to the role of Captain Jack Sparrow.

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Angelina Jolie has collapsed between takes on the set of her new movie, an unnamed source has claimed.

There had been fears that the actress had not been eating properly as she sought to get fit for her role in Salt, Now reports.

The source said: "It all got too much for Angelina. She collapsed between takes, complaining of shortness of breath and dizzy spells.

"To be fair, it was after she'd filmed a strenuous scene in which she ran around the set, but it was still shocking to see her crumble."

They added: "There was something very wrong with her fitness levels if she couldn't handle a couple of action scenes."

Last month, it was claimed that producers were forced to have a "discreet word" with the star because of her allegedly dramatic weight loss.

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Hollywood star Drew Barrymore has ruled out starring in any more romantic comedies - because the genre has defined her career for the last decade.

The actress admits she has been drawn to lighthearted projects like 2004's 50 First Dates and 2007's Music and Lyrics in the past; but now she's 34, she's looking to branch out and take on more daring movie roles.

She's already got one edgy drama under her belt - dark TV movie Grey Gardens - but she's keen to expand her resume.

She tells Elle magazine, "I’m in my thirties now, and I really want to try all the things that I haven’t gotten to do yet, like directing, and doing a drama.

"I’ve produced and gotten to do a lot of optimistic love stories, and that was so where I was at for 10 years in my life. And now I feel like, 'Okay, now I know how to do that.' I wanted to get scared again."

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Monsters Vs. Aliens has beaten off competition from The Boat That Rocked to secure the UK box office crown.

Monsters's £4 million haul is more than double the ticket sales of Richard Curtis's second directorial effort, which follows the crew of an offshore pirate radio station.

Last week's number one Knowing slides to number three, while Marley & Me remains in the top five at four. The Jennifer Aniston dog comedy has now passed the £12 million mark after a month on release in the UK.

The UK box office top ten in full:

1. (-) Monsters Vs. Aliens - £4,345,711
2. (-) The Boat That Rocked - £1,804,773
3. (1) Knowing - £968,664
4. (2) Marley & Me - £822,367
5. (3) The Haunting In Connecticut - £753,130
6. (4) Paul Blart: Mall Cop - £579,900
7. (5) The Damned United - £320,524
8. (6) Duplicity - £261,849
9. (7) Gran Torino - £190,832
10. (9) Watchmen - £124,276

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Brittany Murphy and David Zayas have been added to the cast of Sylvester Stallone's The Expendables, says The Hollywood Reporter.

The South American-set action film focuses on a group of mercenaries, among them Stallone, Jason Statham, Mickey Rourke, Jet Li and Dolph Lundgren, who are hired to overthrow a dictator.

Murphy will play the singer girlfriend of Rourke's character and has a musical number in the film. Zayas has been been cast as the dictator.

Stallone is writing and directing the movie, with an April 23, 2010 release date scheduled for the US.

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A US magazine has claimed to have uncovered potential storylines for the upcoming sequel to Sex And The City: The Movie.

According to Life & Style, the highly-anticipated film will see Carrie Bradshaw's (Sarah Jessica Parker) relationship with Mr Big (Chris Noth) rocked by allegations of cheating.

"Their marriage is going to face lots of challenges. Big will be tempted by a younger colleague. It’s a juicy role for whoever they wind up casting," MSNBC quotes the source as saying.

The movie will reportedly also see Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall) struggling to cope with the credit crunch, after watching some of her investments get wiped out.

"You will see her having to survive on a more modest budget but still staying true to her fabulous taste," explained the insider.

Parker has previously remained tight-lipped about possible storylines, but has hinted that the movie would attempt to be recession-friendly in order to reflect the current economic climate.

Sex And The City 2 is slated to begin filming this summer, with a scheduled May 28, 2010 release date.

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Sienna Miller has reportedly said that she was replaced in Ridley Scott's upcoming Robin Hood movie because she was too young for the role.

Miller had been cast as Maid Marian when the project was known as Nottingham but was replaced by Cate Blanchett amid rumours of a fall-out about the script and Miller being too slight for the role.

"The script has been evolving and changing and it often happens in films. They've been trying to make this for a couple of years and they rewrote the script and they needed someone who was older," Contactmusic quote her as saying.

"There's a husband who has been away at war for 10 years and he comes back, so it's just not feasible for me to play her. The media doesn't have to make quite as much a meal of it as they do when it happens to me."

She added: "I'm sure it will be a wonderful project but this is not an absolutely shocking thing to happen in the movie industry when scripts evolve and casts change."

"Other people have changed in that cast, but the media just won't document it. I would obviously love to work with Ridley and still I hope to in the future."

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Race To Witch Mountain director Andy Fickman will reteam with Disney to direct comedy You Again.

The in-demand helmer, who has Gimme A Call, Monster Attack Network and a Heathers musical on the horizon, has agreed a deal to make You Again his next movie.

Fickman is currently assembling the female-driven cast for the Moe Jelline-scripted film. The story focuses on a woman who discovers that her brother is engaged to marry the girl who bullied her through high school, says The Hollywood Reporter.

Fickman is also producing You Again, his third film in a row with Disney, alongside Eric Tannenbaum and John J. Strauss.

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Three Kings director David O. Russell will helm romantic comedy Aaron And Sarah for Fox 2000.

The movie, previously titled B.F.F., is about a geek and a popular girl who become friends and fall in love over their four years together at high school. Married writers Chad Gomez Creasey and Dara Resnik Creasey worked on the screenplay.

Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen (Milk) will serve as producers on the project, described by Variety as similar in style to John Hughes's comedies.

Russell has not released a feature film since 2004's I Heart Huckabees. His next movie, the Jake Gyllenhaal-Jessica Biel political comedy Nailed, will arrive in cinemas later this year.

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Kyle Gallner has been cast in the remake of A Nightmare On Elm Street.

The Smallville actor will play one of the the lead males in New Line’s reboot of the 1984 horror film, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Gallner will portray Quentin, who runs the high school’s podcast Insomnia Radio, one of the teens who will do battle with Freddy Krueger. The role is reported to be similar to Johnny Depp's in the original Nightmare.

Jackie Earle Haley has already been cast as the razor-fingered killer who preys on unsuspecting teens while they sleep. The production is being helmed by Samuel Bayer with Michael Bay as one of the producers.

Gallner recently starred in A Haunting In Conneticut and previously played the Flash/Bart Allen role in Smallville.

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Fast & Furious director Justin Lin has revealed that the latest entry in the car franchise is about family "coming home".

The new film reunites original stars Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster, bringing the action back to the Los Angeles setting of the first movie.

"The thematic link to this whole franchise, aside from cars and beautiful women, is the idea of family and what that means for these characters," Lin told DS, noting that an audience "eruption" to Diesel's cameo in The Fast And The Furious: Tokyo Drift prompted the star's return for the latest instalment.

"It felt right that if you were going to have an event to bring all the characters back, it was more organic that it's about coming home," he explained.

Lin added that he would "love" to make the fifth Furious blockbuster in Europe: "The way the buildings are and the look and spacial combinations, I think it lends itself to being a very dynamic setting.

"The one thing unique about this franchise is that it's never repeated. The four films stylistically have been very different and I think it can actually change and evolve and grow."

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Kim Kardashian has admitted that she "would die" to be cast in the upcoming sequel to vampire romance Twilight.

Speaking to PopEater, the Keeping Up With The Kardashians star confessed that she is a massive fan of the movie franchise starring Robert Pattinson.

"I would like die to be in Twilight... being around all those hot guys. I want to be a vampire. I would be one that was probably nice - no, I kind of want to be evil," she said.

"I don't know what I'd want to be - just a vampire! I didn't read [the books] but my little sisters are obsessed with Twilight."

When asked if she aspires to be in any other movies, she replied: "Definitely a James Bond film. I would love to be a Bond girl, that would be my dream of life."

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Robert Downey Jr has said that he is expecting to be involved in a sequel to Sherlock Holmes.

The actor, who stars as the Baker Street sleuth opposite Jude Law's Watson in the Guy Ritchie film, claimed that the action movie could be the first in a franchise.

"I feel like there's going to be a Sherlock Holmes 2," Downey told MTV.

The Iron Man star added that Holmes's addiction to opium, explored in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's original novels, will not play a prominent part, keeping the film suitable for family viewing.

He explained: "I actually petitioned the court and said, 'This is a PG-13 movie. Let's just refer to these peripherally.' So at one point, Watson says, 'What are you doing, that's for eye surgery!'"

Sherlock Holmes opens in cinemas this December.

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Shawn Levy has said that there will be no more Pink Panther films.

Levy, who directed the 2006 Steve Martin remake and executive produced the sequel, told MTV that the disappointing audience response to this year's movie has scuppered plans for a follow-up.

"I think we've likely seen the end of this iteration of the Pink Panther films," Levy said. "Obviously, the sequel did not strike the chord that the first movie did."

He continued: "There are theories as to why this one wasn't a hit. Sometimes, that's just how the cards fall."

Levy said that Martin's involvement persuaded him to reinvent the Peter Sellers series, adding that the first Pink Panther remake featured "one of the truly memorable Steve Martin performances".