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Margot Kidder has joined the cast of H2, Rob Zombie's sequel to his 2007 Halloween remake.

The Superman actress will portray Barbara Collier, the therapist of lead character Laurie Strode (Scout Taylor-Compton). Picking up where its predecessor left off, H2 will see serial killer Michael Myers continuing to terrorise his sister Laurie.

Horror veteran Kidder has also appeared in Sisters, Black Christmas and The Amityville Horror.

Writing on his MySpace blog, Zombie said that the latest Halloween will be titled H2: The Devil Walks Among Us, but later removed any reference of the subtitle.

The movie is scheduled for release on August 28 in the US.

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Penelope Cruz is apparently considering a new project with the movie director who helped launch her career.

Cruz learned Italian for her appearance in Sergio Castellitto's 2004 film Don't Move and won the David di Donatello award for her role.

According to the Daily Variety, Cruz will start work this year on her portrayal of a single mother in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina in Venuto al Mondo, based on the book by Castellitto's wife Margaret Mazzantini.

"We're starting to talk but I can't confirm anything concrete," Cruz said.

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Keira Knightley has apparently ruled out appearing in the fourth Pirates Of The Caribbean movie.

The actress told Moviefone that playing Elizabeth Swann in the first three instalments of the Disney franchise was enough.

Johnny Depp has already agreed to a fourth outing as Captain Jack Sparrow and will apparently pick up £32 million for the part.

While Russell Brand has also been linked to the next project, Knightley said: "It was a completely fantastic experience, and it was an amazingly large portion of my life, but I don't think I need to go there again.

"I think that it's done. I'm very excited to see the next one. And [Johnny Depp] is so wonderful in that character. I think it'll be wonderful."

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Brad Pitt's Plan B company has secured the movie rights to John Le Carre's spy novel The Night Manager, says Variety.

The Paramount project will centre on a hotel manager who is hired by intelligence officers to investigate a group of arms dealers.

Robert Edwards has signed up to pen the script. He last wrote and directed the political drama Land Of The Blind in 2006.

Other Le Carre novels to make it to the big screen include The Spy Who Came In From The Cold with Richard Burton in 1965, and Ralph Fiennes's The Constant Gardener.

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Linda Hamilton's much-rumoured appearance in the upcoming Terminator: Salvation movie has been confirmed.

A source who has seen a finished cut of the film claimed that Hamilton - who played Sarah Connor in the original movies - provided a short voiceover at the start of the film, Chud reports.

The voiceover is said to be similar in style to Hamilton's narration in Terminator 2: Judgement Day.

Terminator Salvation opens in the UK on June 5.

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Julia Roberts has suggested that the public fascination with celebrities' personal lives has "diluted the magic" of movies.

Speaking to Moviefone, the actress claimed that the "insidious and pointless" tabloid interest in stars' everyday lives was damaging the enjoyment of the cinema.

"I think that takes away from getting to have this special moment where you go and see someone in a movie," she explained.

"That magic gets diluted because you see these people every hour, every day in something that's bound together and called a publication."

However, the Duplicity star admitted that she was happy to chat with reporters when the discussion was related to her work.

"In a situation like this where there's a movie I really enjoyed making, I am happy to talk about it," she said. "I just think it'd be nice if there were some clearer divisions of what people think is interesting."

Duplicity opens in the UK on Friday.

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Amy Adams has revealed that she was advised to imagine that she was eating a hamburger while kissing her Catch Me If You Can co-star Leonardo DiCaprio.

Speaking to Parade, the Oscar-nominated actress admitted that she was given the advice by the film's director Steven Spielberg, in order to spice up the scene.

"I really had to go at him and climb on top of him. Steven Spielberg's direction to me was, 'Eat his face like a hamburger'," she explained.

"Steven said, 'You're starving and you're looking at him like a hamburger or maybe an ice cream cone'."

The 34-year-old added: "I talk about kissing a lot and I think I have to stop talking about my co-stars because I'm starting to sound just grossly unprofessional and boy crazy!"

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Catherine Hardwicke is in talks to direct Maximum Ride for Sony.

The Twilight helmer is eyeing the young adult fantasy book series as her next directing project, says The Hollywood Reporter.

James Patterson has penned five Ride novels, which centre on a group of teenagers dubbed 'The Flock', genetically engineered to be part human, part bird.

Don Payne (Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer) is working on the screenplay, with Avi Arad, Ari Arad and Steven Paul producing. Patterson is on board as an executive producer.

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Jesse Eisenberg will portray poet Allen Ginsberg in Kill Your Darlings, says Variety.

The ensemble drama will centre on the murder that helped kick start the New York Beat Generation, headed by writers Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs.

Ben Whishaw will play Lucien Carr, a Columbia University student who brings together the young writers, while Evans will star as Kerouac.

John Krokidas is making his directorial debut on the drama, working from a script he co-wrote with Austin Bunn.

Eisenberg can next be seen in coming-of-age comedy Adventureland, released in UK cinemas on July 17.

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Salma Hayek has been cast as Adam Sandler's wife in Columbia's all-star comedy project.

The movie, which is going under the working title Lake House, centres on five school friends who reunite 30 years after graduation. Sandler, Chris Rock, Kevin James, Rob Schneider and David Spade will play the leads.

According to JoBlo.com, Norm McDonald and Steve Buscemi have also boarded the cast in smaller roles.

Dennis Dugan (You Don't Mess With The Zohan) will direct Lake House from a script by Sandler and Fred Wolf.

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Mickey Rourke has been photographed touring a Russian prison amid reports that he has signed on to play a Soviet villain in Iron Man 2.

Several media outlets have reported that Rourke visited Moscow's high security Butyrka Prison as part of his preparation to play arms dealer Crimson Dynamo.

According to local media, the actor spent around three hours at the facility, chatting with guards and prisoners, sampling prison cuisine and testing a prison bunk.

Iron Man director Jon Favreau has so far refused to confirm or deny rumours suggesting that Rourke and Scarlett Johansson have joined the cast of the highly-anticipated superhero sequel.

Speaking to Ain't It Cool News, Favreau said: "I can't confirm any casting stuff because there have been no announcements made...I'm very excited about the people that we have. There are no big surprises in casting coming that I can foresee."

Last month, Rourke appeared to downplay his involvement in the project, after it was reported that he had been offered $250,000 for his services.

Iron Man 2, which will see Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow reprise their roles, is scheduled to begin filming in the next couple of weeks.

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Karl Urban and Adriana Barraza have been added to the cast of And Soon The Darkness, says The Hollywood Reporter.

The pair join Amber Heard and Odette Yustman, who were signed up for the British thriller remake earlier this month. The story revolves around two American girls bike riding through Argentina. When one goes missing, the other must race to find her before night falls.

Commercials director Marcos Efron is making his feature debut on the movie.

Urban has previously appeared in the Lord Of The Rings trilogy and can next be seen in J.J. Abrams's Star Trek. Mexican actress Barraza picked up an Oscar nomination in 2006 for her turn in Babel.

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Julia Roberts' brother Eric is on the verge of a major acting comeback - just as pal Mickey Rourke predicted at last month's Independent Spirit Awards.

And it's a role in comeback king Rourke's new movie that has kickstarted Roberts' career - he's currently shooting his part in all-star action film The Expendables in Brazil.

In the film, Roberts will play opposite his old pal and his The Specialist co-star Sylvester Stallone.

The actor has also landed a pivotal role in Howl, the Allen Ginsberg biopic starring James Franco as the controversial poet.

The film will also feature Paul Rudd, Alan Alda, David Straitharn, Mary Louise-Parker and Jeff Daniels, according to MovieHole.net.

At the Independent Spirit Awards in Santa Monica, California, Rourke paid tribute to Roberts, insisting his pal deserved "a second chance" during his Best Actor acceptance speech.

He said, "I wish there would be one god damned filmmaker in this room that would let him fly, because the man is something else."

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Apparently Paramount's decision to release the third Transformers movie in July 2011 was news to director Michael Bay, who's currently finishing the second movie in the series, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, which is due this summer. Bay said on his official website that he was under the impression that the third movie would be unleashed in July 2012, not 2011, and that he "needs a break from fighting robots." Either way, you have to wonder: Should Paramount even be committing to a release date before the script is completed, before a director is officially on board, and before the second Transformers movie has opened?

Also, if Bay ultimately opts not to direct the third Transformers movie, who should replace him? I'd love to see a filmmaker with a leaner, less oppressive style take the helm. My dream pick: Alfonso Cuarón (who has already proven that he can handle massive franchises by directing Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban). Cuarón would lend the Transformers film a palpable sense of urgency while not sacrificing the major set pieces (the extended action scenes in Children of Men trump anything seen in Transformers).

But I'm probably speaking heresy to the legions of moviegoers who did enjoy Michael Bay's Transformers, so what say you, PopWatchers? Should Paramount do whatever it can to keep Bay happy, even if that means pushing the third movie back a year? Or is there another director you'd rather have leading the "robots in disguise"?

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A second sequel to 1987 horror film The Lost Boys has been greenlit by Warner Premiere.

The follow-up to last year's Lost Boys: The Tribe DVD will be penned by Evan Charnov and will again feature Corey Feldman and vampire hunter Edgar Frog, Bloody Disgusting reveals.

Moviehole reports that the film will also feature Jamison Newlander, who will reprise his role from the first film as Edgar's brother Alan.

Newlander was credited in the previous sequel, but appeared only in two alternate endings for the film, while Corey Haim provided a mid-credits cameo scene.

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Clint Eastwood has reportedly cast his son in The Human Factor, his upcoming movie about Nelson Mandela and post-apartheid South Africa.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Scott Eastwood will join Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon in the project, which has been adapted from the book by John Carlin.

The movie will revolve around the former South African president's attempt to use the national rugby team to fight racial discrimination.

Eastwood's son will play a member of the team, while Damon will portray their captain Francois Piennar. Morgan has been cast as Mandela.

The 22-year-old has previously worked with his father in Gran Torino and Flags Of Our Fathers.

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Nowhere Boy, a film about Beatle John Lennon's childhood, has started filming.

The Weinstein Company has purchased the movie, which is two weeks into production, Variety reports.

Nowhere Boy takes its title from The Beatles song 'Nowhere Man' on the Rubber Soul album. It is directed by Sam Taylor, whose previous credits include the Buzzcocks-inspired Love You More.

Aaron Johnson, 19, plays the role of young Lennon. He has previously appeared in The Illusionist as the child version of Ed Norton's character Eisenheim. English Patient star Kristin Scott Thomas portrays Lennon's Aunt Mimi, who helped raise him.

"Nowhere Boy tells the never before seen story of John Lennon's childhood," The Weinstein Company said.

"John Lennon is an ordinary 15-year-old boy on the streets of Liverpool... But life is not simple for John - he grew up in a family of secrets and was raised by his Aunt Mimi from the age of five. When he is suddenly reunited with his mother, Julia, they form an unbreakable bond. A bitter war rages between the two sisters for John's love."

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Michael Bay has claimed that Paramount was premature to announce a 2011 release for the third Transformers movie.

The studio is eyeing the Independence Day weekend to launch Transformers 3. However, Bay, the director of the previous two robot action movies, said that he will not be back to helm the sequel if Paramount sticks to its planned release date.

Writing on his Shoot For The Edit website, he explained: "I said I was taking off a year from Transformers.

"Paramount made a mistake in dating Transformers 3 - they asked me on the phone - I said yes to July 4 - but for 2012 - whoops! Not 2011!!! That would mean I would have to start prep in September. No way. My brain needs a break from fighting robots."

Second instalment Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen opens in cinemas on June 26.

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Marley & Me has broken the record for the biggest UK opening of 2009.

The comedy drama, starring Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson as a couple who adopt a hyperactive Labrador, tops the UK box office with £4.4 million in ticket sales in its first five days on release.

Marley & Me's record-breaking 2009 opening surpasses that of Slumdog Millionaire, Watchmen and The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button.

The only other new release, Tom Hardy's Bronson, lands at number ten on its debut weekend.

The UK top ten in full:

1. (-) Marley & Me - £4,414,169
2. (1) Watchmen - £1,400,352
3. (3) Gran Torino - £818,576
4. (2) Slumdog Millionaire - £755,379
5. (4) The Young Victoria - £633,870
6. (5) Bolt - £474,791
7. (6) Confessions Of A Shopaholic - £425,631
8. (7) The Unborn - £389,948
9. (8) Hotel For Dogs - £283,755
10. (-) Bronson - £258,360

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Observe And Report director Jody Hill has called rival security guard comedy Paul Blart: Mall Cop a "piece of s**t".

Speaking to Vulture, the filmmaker said that he had no concerns about Mall Cop's similar premise to his Seth Rogen project.

"I figured it was gonna suck," he said of the Kevin James vehicle, which has been largely panned by critics.

"It's annoying that every time I read an article, they mention this piece-of-s**t movie," Hill continued. "I don't want a battle of the mall cops. If somebody's doing something, I don't want to do that."

Paul Blart: Mall Cop is out in cinemas this Friday, with Observe And Report arriving April 24.