News: Christian Bale

Casting rumours continue to emerge for the second in The Prestige star and director Christian Bale and Christopher Nolan’s new Batman franchise, The Dark Knight. To join Heath Ledger’s Joker, rumours circulating include Cruel Intentions‘ Ryan Philippe as Two Face and Capote’s Philip Seymour Hoffman as The Penguin.

Bale has a number of other movies in the pipeline: the Werner Herzog-directed Vietnam War flick Rescue Dawn, where he plays a German-born US pilot shot down over the jungle, experimental director Tod Haynes’ exploration of the life and work of Bob Dylan, I’m Not There, with Richard Gere, Julianne Moore, Heath Ledger, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Cate Blanchett (see ComingSoon.net for more); and is set to star alongside Russell Crowe and Peter Fonda in a remake of the 1957 Elmore Leonard Western 3:10 to Yuma for Walk the Line director James Mangold.

News: Russell Crowe

Hardman Crowe may recently have announced that he’s planning on scaling back on his action roles, but after the drubbing this week’s A Good Year has received form most critics, he must surely be wondering if light comedy is really the right alternative…

Still, for his next three films he’s back on more familiar territory. First is Tenderness, for Swimfan director Jon Polson, where the burly Aussie will play a detective trying to work out if a violent teenager murdered his family – all highly topical in these days of ASBOs and hoodies, although I somehow doubt it’ll be set on the mean streets of Slough.

Then will come the remake of the 1957 Western 3:10 to Yuma, with Crowe taking on the Glenn Ford role of an outlaw betrayed by his gang, with Christian Bale now confirmed as the rancher forced to help him out of trouble. Fleshing out the cast are the likes of Peter Fonda and Gretchen Mol and, with Walk the Line director James Mangold overseeing things from behind the camera, it should be one to look forward to when it comes out towards the end of 2007.

Finally, filming has just started in New York for Crowe and A Good Year director Ridley Scott’s next project, American Gangster. Crowe will be up against Denzel Washington in this 1970s-set crime thriller which, so far, sounds a lot more promising than their most recent film to hit the box office…