With the untimely passing of legendary actor Richard Harris, the producers of the next Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2003), have been faced with an important casting decision to fill the great shoes of their head wizard, Albus Dumbledore. Early word was that Harris' stand-in, Harry Robinson (who was used for some of the shots in The Chamber of Secrets while Harris was ill), was a potential candidate as he looked a great deal like the actor. But now, word has it that veteran actor Christopher Lee, who played Count Dooku in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002) and who is currently starring as the evil wizard Saruman in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy, just may get the part. Apparently, Lee was originally approached to play Dumbledore when casting for the first film, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001) was in pre-production, but his schedule at that time - with the aforementioned two blockbusters - was so tight that he couldn't do it. While Robinson may have looked a bit like Harris, producers are really hoping to land a marquee name for the role and the availability of Lee just may suit everyone if all goes according to plan. The three main young actors - Daniel Radcliffe (Harry), Emma Watson (Hermione), and Rupert Grint (Ron) - are signed on to star through the third film but there's no word yet on whether they will continue with their roles as Hogwarts students after that. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is scheduled to begin filming in March 2003 under the direction of Alfonso Cuarón (Y tu mamá también (2001)).

Academy Award-winning actor Denzel Washington and director Tony Scott, who worked together on the submarine thriller Crimson Tide (1995), are set to re-team for the adaptation of A.J. Quinnell's book Man of Fire. The story follows an ex-Marine who becomes a bodyguard to a young girl. After her untimely death at the hands of kidnappers, the man vows to seek revenge on those who killed his charge. The new screen version of the film has been penned by writer/director Brian Helgeland (A Knight's Tale (2001)), after being done once before as a film that was a bit of a flop back in the late 80's. Robert De Niro was associated with the film for a long time, but seems to have dropped out now that Denzel has officially signed on. The project is slated to begin production in February down in Mexico City.

Adam Sandler (Punch-Drunk Love (2002)) and Drew Barrymore (Charlie's Angels 2: Full Throttle (2003)), who had such great chemistry in The Wedding Singer (1998), may re-team for another romantic comedy entitled Fifty First Kisses. The story revolves around a guy who falls in love with a girl, except she has a severe short-term memory problem and forgets who he is on a daily basis. It's then up to the guy to make her fall in love with him all over again every single day. This romantic, Groundhog Day-type idea was written by Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandell (Father's Day (1997), Forget Paris (1995)), with a director yet to be named. Aside from starring in the film, Sandler and his Happy Madison company will produce, and the film will be distributed by Columbia Pictures.

It seems that Ron Howard's next project is gaining some momentum - after eventually quitting Disney's film The Alamo, the A Beautiful Mind (2001) director was keen to make his next film a western at all costs, and quickly got on board a project titled The Last Ride, based on Thomas Edison's novel of the same name. As previously reported, The Last Ride is the story of an estranged father and daughter in the old West, who have to reunite after her little girl is kidnapped by outlaws. According to the trade magazine The Hollywood Reporter, Tommy Lee Jones (Men in Black 2 (2002), Space Cowboys (2000)) and Cate Blanchett (The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)) are strong favorites for the two leads in the film. The script for The Last Ride was written by Space Cowboys scribe Ken Kaufman, and may undergo a title change before all is said in done. In addition to his western, Howard also has several other projects in the pipeline, including Cinderella Man and the Conquistador film The Serpent and the Eagle.

Action star Jackie Chan is set to join director Stanley Tong (First Strike (1996)) for Titanium Rain, about an Imperial Guard who tracks a samurai warrior over the course of 400 years. The film is scheduled to begin production in June, and will shoot in exotic locations including India and Hong Kong. According to Variety, Tong will shoot one project before Titanium Rain, entitled The Legend of Mulan (a story that doesn't have any relation to the 'Mulan' story brought to the big screen by Disney.) Chan was last seen alongside Jennifer Love Hewett in the action comedy The Tuxedo, and is starring in the sequel to Shanghai Noon (2000), titled Shanghai Knights, which opens later this year.

Colin Farrell, star of the upcoming thriller Phone Booth (2003), has his next two projects lined up - one a major studio film and the other an independent. Farrell, who will also be seen this February in the highly anticipated superhero flick Daredevil (2003), will next star in The Jacket, an unusual thriller about a man imprisoned for a murder he didn't commit. While in prison and under torture, the man is able to take himself into altered states and see how he will be murdered. It is then up to him to figure out who will murder him and why. Training Day (2001) director Antoine Fuqua will be helming that picture, which is expected to begin filming in March. After The Jacket, Farrell will star in the indie film Home at the End of the World, about two childhood buddies who move in together after they both arrive in New York. The actor is currently filming the action film S.W.A.T., based on the old television series of the same name.

Disney is hoping to catch lightning in a bottle again by mixing up some of the same elements that made The Rookie (2002) such a smash success. Dennis Quaid has signed on for a film the studio is producing about NASCAR legend Lee Petty, father of driver Richard Petty, chronicling the rise of the famous racing family and the early obstacles that Petty had to overcome before becoming one of the sport's greatest drivers. Disney is describing the project as very much in the same vein as The Rookie, and the casting of Quaid in the role certainly seems to indicate their desire to capture that same everyman appeal that struck such a chord before with audiences. The screenplay was written by John Warren, and production on the film is expected to get underway sometime in the spring. Quaid will next be seen in the suburban period drama Far From Heaven (2002), in which he co-stars with actress Julianne Moore.

British actor Orlando Bloom, who is currently enjoying success as the elf Legolas in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy, has joined the cast of the epic film Troy, which is gearing up to head into production in the spring under the direction of Wolfgang Petersen (The Perfect Storm (2000), Air Force One (1997)). Troy is the film that Petersen took in favor of directing the Batman Vs. Superman project that almost was. Bloom will star alongside Brad Pitt and Eric Bana in the epic about the events leading up to the Trojan War. Bloom is set to play the role of Paris, who abducted the famous Helen of Troy, whose face 'launched a thousand ships' as the event lead to the Greek armada invading the Trojan lands. Claire Forlani is rumored to be playing the role of Helen and Michael Clarke Duncan's name has also been bandied around as a potential member of the cast. Bloom is also starring in the upcoming Disney theme ride film, Pirates of the Caribbean, where he will share the screen with actors Johnny Depp and Geoffrey Rush. Troy is expected to hit theaters sometime in 2004.

Ben Affleck and Paramount Pictures (with whom Affleck has had major recent success in films like The Sum of All Fears (2002) and Changing Lanes (2002)) are currently in negotiations for the sci-fi thriller Paycheck, about a man who wakes up one day to find that his employer has erased his memory. When the man goes to collect his last check from work, he discovers that he signed a form that instead gives him a bag of strange objects. Paycheck is based on a story by late author Philip K. Dick, whose stories have brought major movie success with the classic picture Blade Runner (1982) and last summer's Tom Cruise action film Minority Report (2002). Affleck will next be seen in next year's Daredevil (2003) as the title role, and is also starring in the Kevin Smith film Jersey Girl alongside new fiancee Jennifer Lopez. John Woo is set to direct Paycheck, and the film's script was written by Dean Georgaris (Lara Croft and the Cradle of Life: Tomb Raider 2 (2003)).

Director Rob Cohen (XXX (2002), The Fast and the Furious (2001)) and Columbia Pictures will bring the project Warrior to the big screen. Variety reports that the film is about a pilot who must hunt down and destroy a computerized jet that has gone out of control. The film is another project that Cohen has with Columbia, the first being a biopic about the rise and fall of King Kamehameha that is being seen as a starring vehicle for The Rock. After finishing production on Warrior, Cohen will likely focus his attention on the sequel to XXX, which Vin Diesel has already signed on for. There is no word yet on when Warrior is expected to go into production, although it will likely do so in the next several months.

According to the trade magazine Variety, director Steven Spielberg and producer Kathleen Kennedy are looking to produce a live action Tintin film through Universal pictures. Tintin was the creation of Belgian artist Georges Remi, who went by the name Herge for the creation of his adventure comic strip, which were first published back in 1929. The hero of the stories was a reporter with that iconic cowlick haircut and his loyal dog Snowy constantly at his side. Along with his friends and colleagues, Tintin would find himself at the center of exciting tales, and his popularity has consistently grown since the years that the stories were first published. Tintin has been the subject of films in the past already, both animated and live action, but none have done particularly well. Along with Dreamworks, Universal is currently in negotiations for the rights for Herge's work, with Spielberg and Kennedy lined up to produce, as they did with 2001's A.I. Artificial Intelligence.

Actor Richard Roxburgh, known best to audiences as the sneering Duke from Moulin Rouge! (2001), is set to step into some very famous fangs. Roxburgh is currently in negotiations to star for director Stephen Sommers (The Mummy (1999)) in Van Helsing, an updated Dracula film that will follow some of the campy, stylized serial adventure formula as his revision of the Mummy franchise did. The story will center around famed Vampire hunter Van Helsing, who has set his sights on tracking down the equally famous vampire Dracula. As he travels to Transylvania to confront the undead, Van Helsing also runs into snags with the Wolfman and Frankenstein's monster. Hugh Jackman (X-Men (2000)) has already signed on for the title role of Van Helsing. Roxburgh was also seen in Mission: Impossible 2 (1999) and will be on screens again in next summer's highly anticipated action film The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003), where he will star alongside Sean Connery.

Leonardo DiCaprio will star for Universal Pictures and director Robert De Niro for a story about the founding of the CIA. The Good Shepherd will find DiCaprio playing James Wilson, a graduate of Yale who went on to help establish the famous agency. Wilson's character is based on a real counterintelligence operative, and the film will track his life for almost half a century, including up and thorough the years of the Cold War. The script for The Good Shepherd was written by Ali (2001) and Forrest Gump (1995) scribe Eric Roth, the project having been in development for a long time. DiCaprio's next project will be a biopic about Howard Hughes, and the actor is also reportedly committed to starring for director Baz Luhrmann's planned film about Alexander the Great. De Niro has directed once before, in 1993's sweet character-driven, coming of age story A Bronx Tale. He is set to star next in the sequel to Meet the Parents (2000), which apparently is set to go before cameras sometime early next year.

Snoop Dogg, the man who Ben Stiller stated he wanted to have play Huggy Bear in Stiller's upcoming remake of Starsky and Hutch, is currently in negotiations to take the very role. Stiller and Owen Wilson have already signed on for a big budget remake of the old buddy cop show from the 70's, which will focus on the origins of their friendship and how they came to be partners. Fans of the old show will remember that Huggy Bear was the duo's street wise snitch, who provided them with much needed information to get the job done. Snoop Dogg has appeared recently in films like Bones (2001), The Wash (2001), and Training Day (2001). Starsky and Hutch will be directed by Scott Armstrong, from a script by Todd Phillips, writer and director of Road Trip (2000) and the upcoming Old School (2003). Owen Wilson will next be seen in the spring with the sequel Shanghai Knights (2003), and Stiller will be seen next year alongside Jack Black in the dark comedy Envy (2003).

Julianne Moore has signed on to star alongside Richard Gere in Without Apparent Motive, a thriller that takes place in L.A. about a detective who in investigating a series of murders that may have been committed by a seductive woman. Billie August will be directing the film, from a screenplay by Eric Blakeney (Gun Shy (2000)). While Moore can currently be seen in the Oscar-buzz heavy Far From Heaven, Gere will next be seen in the big screen adaptation of the musical Chicago, also starring Renee Zellweger and Catherine Zeta-Jones.

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