Dakota Fanning To Star In "The Cat in the Hat, and "Molly Gunn

"I Am Sam" star Dakota Fanning has signed to star opposite Mike Myers in Universal Pictures/DreamWorks Pictures' "Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat" for Academy Award-winning producer Brian Grazer and his Imagine Entertainment. Principal photography begins in the fall at Universal Studios.

Before shooting "Cat," Fanning will star in the MGM feature "Molly Gunn" for director Boaz Yakin and GreeneStreet Films. That project will shoot in the summer in New York.

"Cat," directed by production designer-turned-helmer Bo Welch, will see Myers star as the mischievous feline in a striped stovepipe hat who magically enters the lives of a boy and girl (Fanning) and becomes a catalyst in getting them to understand the beauty of the simplicity of life.

"It's an important and challenging role, and we're thrilled to have her because she's an enormously capable actress," Grazer said of Fanning.

Alec Berg, David Mandel and Jeff Schaffer wrote the script for the feature film version. Universal will be distributing the film domestically, with DreamWorks taking on international territories.

"Cat" reunites Fanning with DreamWorks, whose television division is producing the Sci Fi Channel miniseries "Taken," which the actress is shooting in Vancouver, British Columbia. Once that project wraps, Fanning will segue immediately into "Molly Gunn."

"Molly Gunn," written by Julia Dahl and Lisa Davidowitz, is about a New York socialite who loses her family fortune and gets a job as a nanny to a precocious, troubled 9-year-old girl (Fanning) from the Upper East Side. Both end up growing in the process.

The project is based on an original idea by Allison Jacobs, who produces the project with Gary Winick and GreeneStreet partners John Penotti and Fisher Stevens.

Fanning is repped by her agent Cindy Osbrink, manager Booh Schut and attorney Steve Warren. She next stars in Columbia Pictures' "24 Hours" and the Walt Disney Co.'s "Sweet Home Alabama."

Columbia makes bet on Jennifer Lopez star power

Columbia Pictures' Lady Liberty better make room, because the Culver City-based studio has a hot new female lead joining the studio lineup.

Having previously appeared in such Columbia features as "The Wedding Planner" and the upcoming Michael Apted-directed thriller "Enough," which opens May 24, Lopez has signed a three year first-look feature film development and production deal with the Sony-owned studio to develop projects through her Nuyorican Prods., in which she is partnered with her Handprint Entertainment manager Benny Medina.

The deal with Columbia marks the first time Lopez has ventured into producing feature films. Nuyorica Prods.' only previous credit is "Jennifer Lopez in Concert," a special that aired on NBC last fall on which the singer/actress served as executive producer.

Lopez has long had ties to Columbia, where she made her first studio feature, 1995's "Money Train." Two years later, she starred in the studio's "Anaconda" and Phoenix Pictures' "U-Turn," which was distributed by Columbia.

Lopez' relationship with the studio continues to flourish as she is currently shooting Revolution Studios' comedy "Gigli" for director Martin Brest. Next, she will segue into Revolution's "Chambermaid," to be directed by Wayne Wang. Both Revolution projects will be distributed through Sony/Columbia.

"You don't have to look any further than our upcoming release slate to see the confidence that we have in Jennifer as an actress," Columbia Pictures chairman Amy Pascal said. "She has wonderful creative instincts and enormous talent. This deal redefines our commitment to her and it broadens her entrepreneurial scope as a producer and our business partner."

On the music side, Lopez has Sony ties as well. She is signed to Epic Records, a label under Sony Music.

With the simultaneous release of "The Wedding Planner" and her second album, "J. Lo," in January 2001, Lopez became the first female artist in history to have the No. 1 movie and the No. 1 album in the same week.

The deal marks the second agreement the studio has signed with a major entertainer this year. In January, Columbia signed Will Smith and James Lassiter's Overbrook Entertainment to a three-year, first-look production deal.

Lopez is repped by ICM, Handprint and attorney Barry Hirsch. Lopez's past feature film credits include "Angel Eyes," "The Cell," and "Out of Sight."

Paul Verhoeven To Film The Spellbinding True Story Of Mutiny, Shipwreck, Murder, And Survival.

Paul Verhoeven, the Dutch director of such US blockbusters as Robocop, Total Recall and Starship Troopers, and the UK's FilmFour have partnered on an epic film adaptation of one of the most shocking episodes in Dutch history.

The partners are to shoot a film about the murderous aftermath of the seventeenth century shipwreck of the Dutch East India Company's flagship vessel, the Batavia.

 Verhoeven has signed to direct an adaptation of Mike Dash's book about the incident, Batavia's Graveyard. Gerard Soeteman, Verhoeven's collaborator on earlier films such as Soldier Of Orange, is to adapt the book.

"This is an exciting way of bridging the gap between Hollywood and Europe," said FilmFour deputy head of production James Wilson, who brought the project into the company. "It's obviously not a small film, but it is also possibly too dangerous for down-the-middle, mainstream Hollywood."

The story tells how a Svengali-like mutineer, Jeronimus Corneliusz, takes control after the shipwreck on a tropical island off Western Australia. Corneliusz establishes a Fascistic community through charisma, hysteria and violence. He is opposed by a young soldier, Wiebbe Hayes, who was left for dead on a neighbouring island.

Mark Wahlberg to Star in 'Italian Job'

Actor Mark Wahlberg is set to star in "The Italian Job," a high-octane heist drama that will begin shooting Aug. 3 at Paramount Pictures. F. Gary Gray is directing the film, a remake of the 1969 caper that starred Michael Caine, Benny Hill and Noel Coward.

That film, though considered something of a stylish classic because of its clever use of the tiny, high-speed Mini Cooper cars for a memorable chase sequence, was much more of a comedy than the new version will be.

While the original was a gold heist set entirely in Europe, the new version -- scripted by Donna and Wayne Powers -- will begin in Italy, but with the robbery taking place in Los Angeles.

Automaker BMW bought the Mini Cooper and is releasing the first new models of the automobiles in 2003. That's good timing, because the cars will figure prominently in the revamped plot.

Wahlberg will play Charlie Croker, a career criminal who heads the crew that masterminds a massive gold bullion take. It is made possible when they create the largest traffic jam in L.A. history.

While that disables the populace, the criminals are empowered by their use of the Mini Coopers, which are incredibly fast but small enough to travel on sidewalks and the subway system while the city and the cops are immobilized.

That plays to the strength of director Gray, who completed the Vin Diesel picture "Diablo" for New Line, and previously directed the logistically complicated action films "The Negotiator" and "Set It Off."

For Wahlberg, the film marks the second high-profile remake he's toplined in Europe, as he starred with Thandie Newton in the Jonathan Demme-directed "Charade" remake, which Universal is calling "The Truth About Charlie."

Mid-Six Figures Paid For '11th Hour' Pitch 

With the sentencing of former FBI agent and confessed Russian spy Robert Hanssen scheduled for next month, Intermedia and Outlaw Prods. are planning a feature film based on the true story of how Hanssen's espionage was discovered and exposed.

Intermedia has paid mid-six figures for a pitch, tentatively titled "The 11th Hour," by writers Adam Mazer and Bill Rotko that details how Hanssen was caught thanks to the help of a 27-year-old surveillance operative named Eric O'Neill. O'Neill's story is the subject of an upcoming profile on ABC's "20/20," scheduled to run May 10, the same day as Hanssen's sentencing.

Although many of the details of Hanssen's dealings have been reported, the introduction of the young O'Neill introduces a new figure into the case. The writers say O'Neill was unable to come forward with his story earlier because, had Hanssen gone to trial, they would have been required to testify against him. Mazer and Rotko were introduced to O'Neill though the operative's younger brother, David O'Neill, and subsequently agreed to form a partnership to tell Eric O'Neill's story.

"The only way to tell this story is through Eric's point of view; he is the true hero in all of this," Mazer said. "It also paints the FBI in a positive light because they put a lot of faith in Eric."

Outlaw is not the first production company to tackle a project about Hanssen. A CBS biopic is being planned by author and Emmy-winning producer Lawrence Schiller. That project is based on a book by Schiller from interviews conducted by him and Norman Mailer and is scheduled to be published April 30. Last year, Jerry Bruckheimer Films optioned film rights to journalist David Vise's book "The Bureau and the Mole," also about the Hanssen case.

Intermedia and Outlaw plan to focus their project on the relationship between the younger O'Neill and the older Hanssen, taking a cue from Outlaw's most recent feature "Training Day," which centered on the relationship between a rookie cop (Ethan Hawke) and a corrupt, seasoned officer (Denzel Washington).

"Eric was a 27-year-old surveillance operative and was considered the perfect fit to be brought into headquarters to act as Hanssen's assistant," Mazer said. "Over the course of three months, Eric was able to gain Hanssen's trust and be privy to information that ultimately enabled him to gather evidence, which the FBI used to bring Hanssen down."

Added Rotko: "It was not a single-man job; Eric was a character who helped bring down Hanssen. But what was unusual about Eric is that the FBI doesn't normally use surveillance specialists as undercover operatives. There was always an element of danger there for him, particularly when he's standing next to what people considered the worst spy in U.S. history."

Outlaw's Robert Newmyer, Jeffrey Silver and Scott Strauss are producing the project, with Intermedia production president Basil Iwanyk overseeing.

Hanssen was a 25-year veteran FBI counterintelligence agent who has confessed to passing top-secret information to the Soviets, and later Russians, for 15 years in what is considered the biggest sellout of U.S. national security secrets in the history of the FBI. His betrayal is linked to the execution two American spies.

O'Neill, now 29, is studying law. The writers are repped by Cory Concoff at Fuel Filmworks and attorney John Slauss. They were most recently associate producers on the comedy feature "Super Troopers."

Nona Gaye Filling Aaliyah's Role in 'Matrix 2'

"Ali" starlet Nona Gaye, daughter of Motown legend Marvin Gaye, will fill the shoes of the late singer-actress Aaliyah in Warner Bros. Pictures' sequels to "The Matrix."

 Gaye will portray Zee, a role that is introduced in the second film, "The Matrix Reloaded," and expands considerably in the third installment, "The Matrix Revolutions." She will begin shooting in Sydney next week.

When Aaliyah was killed last August in a plane crash, she had completed the initial shooting for "Reloaded" in Los Angeles. The R&B singer was scheduled to wrap principal photography on both films early this year.

"Reloaded" is slated for release May 23, 2003, with "Revolutions" to follow in November. The three stars of the original sci-fi action thriller -- Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss and Laurence Fishburne -- also are returning in the sequels.

Gaye, who is the daughter of Marvin Gaye and released her own album in 1992, recently made her feature debut in "Ali" as Belinda Ali, the second wife of the boxing great.

Joe Dante to direct Looney Tunes project

Joe Dante has signed on to direct Warner Bros' big-budget untitled Looney Tunes project. The studio aims to go into production on the film in July for a Thanksgiving 2003 release.

The project is described as an action-adventure comedy that will feature the studio's animated characters in a live-action world. Warner Bros. Feature Animation will provide the animation art for the film.

The script is written by John Recqua & Glenn Ficarra, who wrote the studio's "Cats & Dogs," as well as Larry Doyle ("The Simpsons," "Daria").

Former Village Roadshow Pictures executive Bernie Goldmann is producing the project. Goldmann, who was Roadshow's production president for 2 1/2 years, stepped down from his post in June when his contract expired.

Doyle is executive producing with Chris De Faria. Warner Bros. executive vp production Jeff Robinov is overseeing the project.

The Looney Tunes project marks Dante's return to the Warners fold after previously working with the studio during the '80s on such features as "Innerspace," "Gremlins" and "Gremlins 2: The New Batch."

The helmer, repped by the Gersh Agency, also has directed such films as "The 'Burbs" and "Small Soldiers." He recently wrapped shooting Lookout Entertainment's feature "Haunted Lighthouse," starring Lea Thompson and Christopher Lloyd.

Music: R&B rookies strike chord: Ashanti tops, Tweet third

Newcomer Ashanti is storming the Billboard 200, debuting at No. 1 as fans bought more than a half-million copies of her self-titled album.

Meanwhile, sales of Las Vegas-bound songbird Celine Dion's "New Day Has Come" dropped by more than 50% during its second week of release. The album sold 262,725 copies for the week ending April 7 vs. 527,025 the previous week, according to SoundScan figures obtained from industry sources.

The success of R&B singer Ashanti, who is signed to Def Jam, marks a win for Universal Music Group, which has seven albums in the Top 10 this week. UMG also nabs the No. 4 spot with "NOW That's What I Call Music 9" (UME) on 193,725 copies sold; No. 5 with the Grammy-winning soundtrack "O Brother, Where Art Thou? (Lost Highway) on 91,425 units scanned; No. 6 with Jay-Z & R. Kelly's "The Best of Both Worlds" (Jive/Roc-a-Fella/Def Jam), which added 82,375 units; No. 7 with Avant's "Ecstasy" (Magic Johnson/MCA) on 75,925 copies sold; No. 8 with the soundtrack to "The Scorpion King" (Universal Records), which added 72,675; and No. 9 with Ludacris' "Word of Mouf" (Disturbing Tha Peace/Def Jam South), which scanned 66,575.

"Ashanti is an incredible success story," UMG chairman and CEO Doug Morris said in an interview. "(Island Def Jam president and CEO) Lyor Cohen is just hitting home runs out of the park right now."

The week's other notable debut is Elektra's new R&B artist Tweet, whose "Southern Hummingbird" bows at No. 3 on 194,925 units scanned.

"Tweet is a very unique artist lyrically and musically," Elektra chairman and CEO Sylvia Rhone said in an interview. "She's written everything on the album. She's not the invention of producers. ... I think she's brought something new to the marketplace."