News: Cate Blanchett

As you should expect from Blanchett by now, she picks her films carefully, so every one of the five she’s got in the works after this week’s Babel are likely to be corkers in their own way. Next to hit UK cinemas is Notes on a Scandal, adapted from the Booker Prize-nominated Zoe Heller novel of obsession, lust and blackmail revolving around two teachers – the other of which is played by Dame Judi Dench. Both actresses have already gained award nominations for their performances, so keep an eye out for it around mid February. Next up, in early March, will be the much-anticipated Steven Soderbergh look at the chaos and confusion of Berlin in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War, The Good German, with George Clooney and Tobey MacGuire filling out the leads.

Then Blanchett will go back further in time to take on the role of Queen Elizabeth I once again for The Golden Age – a sequel to 1997’s Elizabeth that reunites much of the same cast and crew to look at the queen’s reign a few years down the line, and her relationship with Clive Owen’s Sir Walter Raleigh. Another to look forward to is the experimental Todd Haynes look at the life and work of Bob Dylan, I’m Not There, where different actors – including Blanchett, Christian Bale, Richard Gere and Heath Ledger – will play different aspects of the musician. It’ll be decidedly odd, but could well prove odd in a good way, based on Haynes’ past outings.

Finally – and sadly potentially her last film for a while, as she has recently announced plans to go back to her native Australia to run a theatre – is The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, for director David Fincher. Based on an F Scott Fitzgerald story, it revolves around the relationship between a 30-year-old woman and a man who, at the age of 50, begins to grow younger again. After what he managed to pull with Fight Club, it’s just possible Fincher could pull that off…