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Minority Report: Meryl Streep has signed on to play a small role in Steven Spielberg's "Minority Report," which starts production Thursday. The Fox-DreamWorks co-production stars Tom Cruise and Colin Farrell. Based on a story by sci-fi writer Philip K. Dick ("Blade Runner"), "Minority" is set in a futuristic judicial system in which killers are arrested and convicted before they commit murder. Variety reports that no release date has been set.

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Stark Raving Mad: Seann William Scott will star in "Stark Raving Mad," a heist picture set at a rave. The independently financed film begins production May 14 in Vancouver. The picture will be the feature writing and directing debut for the team of Drew Daywalt and David Schneider. According to Variety, Scott (whose credits include "Road Trip" and "American Pie") will be seen in the upcoming "Evolution" and "American Pie II."

Script Reviews: A look at Kurt Wimmer's script for the futuristic thriller "Equilibrium" (aka "Librium"). TNMC reviews the script for "Bourne Identity," an upcoming Matt Damon/Franka Potente spy thriller. Some spoilers. Thanks to Chris and John.

Equilibrium - Script Review (Mixed)
The Bourne Identity - Script Review (Positive)

Shallow Hal: Jason Alexander will join Gwyneth Paltrow and Jack Black in 20th Century Fox's comedy "Shallow Hal" for Peter and Bobby Farrelly, who will direct and produce from their own script. Shooting is slated to start Wednesday. Alexander will play the best friend of Black's character. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the story revolves around a 12-year-old boy whose dying father's last words of advice are for his son to spend his life with only young, beautiful women. But when the story cuts to 28 years later, the now-40-year-old Hal (Black), who sees women only as sex objects, meets a heavy, unattractive woman but sees only her inner beauty.

Swordfish: Courtesy of CountingDown, a new poster for the action/thriller "Swordfish," starring John Travolta, Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Don Cheadle and Vinnie Jones. Dominic Sena ("Gone in Sixty Seconds") directs from a script penned by Skip Woods ("Thursday").

Script Reviews: Stax reviews the screenplay for "Diablo," a crime drama written by Christian Gudegast & Paul Scheuring. F. Gary Gray ("The Negotiator") helmed this film, which stars Vin Diesel, Larenz Tate, Timothy Olyphant, and Jacqueline Obradors.
CHUD has taken a look at the "Jurassic Park III" script, written by Peter Buchman, Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor, and John August. Some spoilers. Thanks to Stax and Nick.

Diablo - Script Review (Mixed)
Jurassic Park III - Script Review (Positive)

Monster's Ball: Halle Berry is in final negotiations to star in Lions Gate Films' "Monster's Ball" for director Marc Forster ("Everything Put Together"). According to The Hollywood Reporter, the filmmakers plan to shoot "Ball" in only 24 days starting in May, but it is not clear how they plan to carry out postproduction in the event of a strike. "Ball," written by Milo Addica and Will Rokos, revolves around Hank (Billy Bob Thornton), who lives with his aging racist father, Buck, and his twentysomething son, Sonny (Wes Bentley). Hank and Sonny work for the local prison, where they are preparing the electric chair for a black inmate. Hank winds up falling in love with the inmate's widow, Leticia (Berry).

Shrek: DreamWorks SKG Fansite-Shrek has landed a nice batch of images for "Shrek," with more to follow. Click on the thumbnails above for the full-sized versions. Thanks to Jawad.

Script Reviews: A look at the scripts for a couple of projects that recently wrapped production - the Joel Schumacher-directed thriller "Phone Booth," and the dark comedy "Big Trouble," helmed by Barry Sonnenfeld. Some spoilers. Thanks to John.

Phone Booth - Script Review (Positive)
Big Trouble - Script Review (Very Positive)

Duke Nukem: The Movie: Dimension Films has acquired the project "Duke Nukem: The Movie" from Threshold Entertainment and will partner with the intellectual property management company to bring the video game featuring the gun-toting action hero to the big screen. Threshold chairman and CEO Larry Kasanoff will produce the project, which he said is being targeted to start shooting this year. According to THR, there is no script yet, but an early story line follows Duke as he takes on the dangerous mission of traveling into deep space to intercept an alien ship on a collision course with Earth.

Deeds: Peter Gallagher is set and Jared Harris is in final negotiations to join Adam Sandler and Winona Ryder in "Deeds" for director Steven Brill. The project is scheduled to start shooting next week. According to The Hollywood Reporter, "Deeds," written by Brill and Tim Herlihy, pays homage to Frank Capra's 1936 comedy "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town." The updated version will follow a small-town bumpkin named Deeds (Sandler) who moves to New York after he inherits a multibillion-dollar international business from his uncle. The man's small-town values begin to affect the jaded inhabitants of the Big Apple. Ryder plays Babe, a tabloid television reporter in New York who goes undercover as a small-town girl with the intent of doing an expose on Deeds. Along the way, the two fall in love. Gallagher plays Chuck Cedar, the ruthless second-in-command to Deeds' deceased uncle who is determined to maintain his power. Harris would play Mac McGrath, the tabloid show's anchor-reporter and Ryder's boss, who uses her hidden-camera footage to paint Deeds as a deranged man to boost ratings.

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