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"Black Swan," a psychological thriller starring Natalie Portman as a ballerina, will open this year's Venice film festival, organizers said on Thursday.

The film, by U.S. director Darren Aronofsky, also features Vincent Cassel and Winona Ryder and centers on the rivalry between two dancers at a ballet company in New York.

Aronofsky won Venice's top prize, the Golden Lion, in 2008 with "The Wrestler."

The Venice festival runs from Sept 1-11. The full line-up will be unveiled later this month.

(Editing by Steve Addison)

Okay, okay… So Ron Howard’s latest film isn’t actually called Cheaters. That’s just the name attached for now while the script circulates to various actors. And one of those who has read it is Channing Tatum, and he’s now agreed to play a part.

The film – whether it ends up being called Cheaters, Your Cheating Heart or Super Sad Infidelity Wrong Go (to appeal to the lucrative Japanese market) – already features Vince Vaughn, Jennifer Connelly, Kevin James and Winona Ryder.

Vaughn discovers that his best mate (James)’s wife (Ryder) is running around behind his back with some hunky tattoo-laden type (Tatum). Naturally, he’s torn up wondering whether he should tell his friend about his wife’s actions.

Howard will start shooting the thing this June in Chicago.

 

Jennifer Connelly, not known for comedies (unless you count The Day the Earth Stood Still) may be heading for chucklesome territory with Cheaters. The title is subject to change, but Vince Vaughn, Kevin James and Winona Ryder are all already signed up for the film, which Ron Howard is directing.

The role that's up for grabs is as Vaughn's other half, who can't decide whether to tell his best friend (James) that his wife (Ryder) is cheating on him. With, possibly, hilarious consequences. The script is by Alan Loeb though, who wrote Things We Lost in the Fire, hinting that belly laughs might not be the order of the day here after all.

If it is just for laughs though, it's sounding like one of those relationship comedies (Couples Retreat, The Break-Up) in which Vaughn is attempting to corner the market. Which is all well and good and by the by, because, frankly, we'd go and see Winona and Jennifer if they were paired in the next Danny Dyer film. That's how excited we are about this prospect. 

Filming starts shortly in Chicago. Isn't it great to see Winona in a larger role than of late, after her odd casting in Star Trek as an old lady? Why was that again?

Winona Ryder has had some… legal trouble in her past. There, we referenced in. On with the story. She’s just joined the cast of Ron Howard’s new comedy, Cheaters. Or Your Cheating Heart. Or whatever else it ends up getting called.

Anyway, the film already features Vince Vaughn and Paul Blart’s Kevin James as best pals whose relationship is put to the test when Vaughn spots James’ wife (Ryder, which is how she fits in) canoodling with another man.

There are those who might question how they ended up together outside the US sitcom world that James used to inhabit on a weekly basis, but that’s an issue for another time.

Howard will start cranking his cameras shortly in Chicago, and the movie should arrive some time next year.

When she waded in to a water fountain in Rome to film a scene for her upcoming movie, Kristen Bell had little more on her mind than having fun.

Now, with "When in Rome" hitting theaters on Friday, it has dawned on the 20 year-old actress that she's carrying the success of an entire film on her shoulders for the first time, and with that comes the pressure to maintain a rising career.

"It's only now that I'm realizing that, wow, this is what people call your 'vehicle,'" the actress told Reuters.

But this 'vehicle' didn't pick up Bell without a lot of hard work ahead of it. Bell began acting in school, went to the New York stage, then moved to Hollywood where she landed the title role on television show "Veronica Mars" before starring in the movie "Forgetting Sarah Marshall."

Along the way, the petite, blonde-haired Bell, who grew up idolizing funny actresses such as Catherine O'Hara and Jennifer Coolidge, has been showcasing stage, music and comedy skills.

In "When in Rome,' she plays Beth, a single art curator who travels to Rome for her sister's wedding, and once there, she falls for the groom's best man (Josh Duhamel).

But when she plucks several coins from a fountain, she finds herself pursued by a band of unwanted suitors -- played by Will Arnett, Danny De Vito, Jon Heder and Dax Shepard -- all of whom had previously wished for love on those coins.

In real-life, Bell has dated Shepard for two years, but she keeps her private life out of the public spotlight.

Shooting "When in Rome," capped off a trio of movies in exotic locations. Bell traveled to Bora Bora for ensemble comedy "Couples Retreat" and Hawaii for Judd Apatow-produced "Forgetting Sarah Marshall."

"I keep saying I've fired my agent and just hired a travel agent. I have no idea why I've had such dumb luck," said Bell. "I was not well-traveled before. I grew up in Detroit where they don't teach you to dream of traveling the world."

Growing up, Bell said she was "too small to play sports" so she joined community theater. After high school she moved to New York to study theater and landed the role of Becky Thatcher in the Broadway production of "Tom Sawyer." Other roles followed on- and off-Broadway including a "Reefer Madness" musical and "The Crucible" with Liam Neeson and Laura Linney.

"There I was, five-feet tall, weighing less than a 100 lbs, eating my bagged lunch next to (playwright) Arthur Miller in a little cafeteria outside our rehearsal studio," recalls Bell. "I thought, 'How did I get here?'"

GOING HOLLYWOOD

Eventually she moved to Los Angeles and landed the title role in "Veronica Mars," a television show about a high school student who moonlights as a private investigator. It debuted in 2004 and became a critical, if not commercial, hit.

"'Veronica Mars' is what set up my whole career," said Bell. "That got me in the door for 'Sarah Marshall,' and being accepted into Judd Apatow's camp is sort of a right of passage for actors. It was very, very lucky for me."

Yet the experience on was bittersweet. On a break from "Veronica Mars" to film the comedy "Sarah Marshall," in which she portrayed an actress who dumps her boyfriend, she learned "Veronica Mars" was being canceled.

"I was shooting 'Sarah Marshall,' playing a girl whose show just got canceled," says Bell. "When we shot that scene where Sarah says, 'My show's canceled, where am I going from here?' those feeling were very real."

But unlike the fictional Sarah Marshall, Bell's career was far from stalling. She spent a season playing a young woman with extraordinary powers on hit series "Heroes," and continues to narrate the title character for TV's "Gossip Girl."

Meanwhile, her film career continues to grow. Bell is currently shooting "Burlesque" with Christina Aguilera and Cher and next stars in the comedy "You Again," opposite Sigourney Weaver and Jamie Lee Curtis.

Yet her stage roots are not long forgotten. Bell is working on a musical stage version of the film "Heathers," a coming-of-age comedy about girls in a high school, with "Reefer Madness" director Andy Fickman and writer Kevin Murphy.

The group has already staged several readings in Los Angeles with the goal of mounting a production there before taking it to New York. Bell plays the role of Veronica, which in the film helped make Winona Ryder a star.

In the meantime, the multi-talented Bell gets to showcase her musical chops during the end credits of "When in Rome" when the cast breaks in to a musical dance number.

"I still love musical theater," confessed Bell. "I'm never as happy as when I'm doing that."

(Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

Winona Ryder told us in Empire issue 241 that a Heathers sequel was definitely in the works. We told you it wasn't. But now, according to Variety, more Heathers is on the way, in the form of a TV series jointly produced by Fox, Sony, and Lakeshore Entertainment who own the rights. 

The original movie is, of course, a dark tale of high school cliques and murderous rebels, starring Nona, Christian Slater and Shannen Doherty. Lakeshore's Gary Lucchesi says that the idea for a sequel or a remake had surfaced at various times, "but doing it for TV seemed like a fresh and original idea."

Jenny Bicks, who worked on Sex and the City, is on board as a writer and executive producer, alongside Mark Rizzo, whose only credit we can find so far is a TV pilot called Zip,

Heathers was a pretty self-contained story, and a sequel would have been tough to pull off successfully. Certainly its difficult to see how Ryder and Slater could have featured (maybe Winona could be a teacher at the school now; she told us that Slater would be back in an "Obi-Wan" capacity).

The fear is that it would have to seriously have its teeth pulled in these post-Columbine times, but we can see a TV series working, especially given the diary-entry structure of the film. Do you agree, or do you wonder what everyone's damage is? 

Johnny Depp is glad he didn't have children with his first wife.

The 'Pirates of the Caribbean' actor admits he wasn't ready to settle down when he wed make-up artist Lori Anne Allison in 1983 and is pleased they never started a family.

The 46-year-old star - who now has two kids, Lily-Rose, 10, and seven-year-old Jack, with long-term partner Vanessa Paradis - said: "I'm

glad I didn't have children until Vanessa and I got together.

"I think when you are young you are hoping that this person will be the right one, the one you are going to be in love with forever but sometimes you want that so much you create something that isn't really there."

Johnny - who has previously dated Kate Moss and Winona Ryder - doesn't believe he was ever truly in love until he met French beauty Vanessa.

He added: "I went through a number of relationships when I was younger. I was very young when I married Lori Anne and probably it was because I was trying to create a situation.

"We married in 1983 but it didn't last very long and that was probably because I wasn't ready to handle such a commitment.

Winona Ryder thought she had to be depressed to be a successful actress.

'The Private Lives of Pippa Lee' actress says working with veteran star Meryl Streep in 1993 made her realise she could be happy and still land roles.

She said: "I worked with Meryl Streep on 'The House of the Spirits'. I always thought actors had to be really depressed or moody or anguished to be great, but she was completely fine and had her family and came to work and did an amazing job and wasn't that way.

"I remember that being a big deal to me, I was like, 'Wow, I can actually be happy and be good at the same time.' When you are young when you think you have to be miserable to play misery."

The 37-year-old star - who recently confessed to having a breakdown when she first achieved fame - also admitted she occasionally considers quitting acting.

She’s been out of the spotlight for quite some time, but it looks like Winona Ryder is making her way back in.

The “Beetlejuice” actress’ comeback is thanks to her role in “Star Trek” and the release of another movie, “The Private Lives of Pippa Lee,” which will be opening in the U.S. this fall.

In a recent interview, Ms Ryder admits she’s had some ups and downs, but since then has been able to find a balance in her life.

She says, "I have really tried to develop a whole life so when I work I can come home to something [else]."

The 37-year-old also mentioned that she’s always admired fellow actress, Kate Winslet, for her ability to have it all.

Her wedding with New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady wasn't even a month ago, and Gisele Bundchen is already talking kids!

In a recent interview with “Harper’s Bazaar,” the 28-year-old model revealed that she would like to have a family similar to her own.

The Brazilian beauty tells, "I want to have a big family. My parents have been together for 36 years, and that is what I want. I am in that place.”

As for Bundchen’s “easy on the eyes” husband, she opened up and said, “He's very strong and focused in his job, but he's so sensitive, it's amazing."