SEGA of America Inc. and SEGA Europe Ltd. today reached an agreement with New Line Cinema and Scholastic Media to create video game content based on the films from award-winning author Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy. With over 10 million books sold worldwide, the His Dark Materials trilogy is comprised of The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass. The first film, The Golden Compass (Northern Lights in the UK), will be produced by New Line Cinema, producers of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and Scholastic Media. The $150 million-budgeted film will star Oscar-winning actress Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig (James Bond in the upcoming Casino Royale) with Oscar-nominated writer/director Chris Weitz (About a Boy, Antz) directing, and with Deborah Forte, President of Scholastic Media, producing. Scholastic Media is also serving as the licensing agent for this property. The Golden Compass is set to be released on November 16, 2007.

“We are excited to be partnering with New Line and Scholastic to bring the dark and fantastic story of the His Dark Materials trilogy to the video game audience,” said Simon Jeffery, President and COO, SEGA of America, Inc. “The Golden Compass is a perfect match for the video game medium with compelling characters engaged in a heroic conflict between good and evil in an incredible and rich fantasy world.”

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It looks like Baz Luhrmann’s long-planned Australian period romantic epic won’t begin filming until February. The project, which has Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman attached to star, was slated to begin filming this month but budgetary and scheduling issues have forced the postponement.

Kidman is now shooting His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass, while Jackman is busy filming The Tourist.

Luhrmann’s still untitled pic is said to be a Gone With the Wind-size epic set in 1930s Australia that culminates with the bombing of Darwin during World War Two, according to Reuters. The budget for the Fox-based film has been reported as anywhere from $150 million to $175 million.

Jackman stepped in last June when the film’s original lead, Russell Crowe, dropped out for unexplained reasons. While doing press recently for A Good Year, the Oscar winner finally revealed what was behind the pullout.

“I just didn’t want to work on that movie in the type of environment that was being created because of the needs of the budget,” Crowe said. “I do charity work, but I don’t do charity work for major studios.”

A mix of big Hollywood productions and arty European movies will mark Rome’s first international film festival next month, organizers said on Tuesday as they played down rivalry with Venice’s venerable film contest.

French and Italian movies dominate the 16-film lineup for the Rome festival’s main competition, which has a distinct European, art-house flavor and includes no U.S. title.

Four American films will screen in the section devoted to international premieres, with Steven Shainberg’s “Fur” — the story of U.S. photographer Diane Arbus played by Nicole Kidman — opening the nine-day festival on October 13.

In fact, the official competition is almost certain to take a back seat to a series of special events and screenings which include the presentation of Martin Scorsese’s new thriller “The Departed” and a tribute to Sean Connery.

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ACTOR Russell Crowe said today that he quit an epic movie about the Australian outback co-starring Nicole Kidman because he doesn’t do “charity work” for major studios.

The New Zealand-born Australian actor had been scheduled to star in the as-yet untitled film directed by Baz Luhrmann, but dropped out and was replaced by another Australian actor, Hugh Jackman, in June. At the time, no reason for the cast change was announced.

“I just didn’t want to work on that movie in the type of environment that was being created because of the needs of the budget,” Crowe said while promoting his new movie, director Ridley Scott’s A Good Year, in New York.

“I do charity work, but I don’t do charity work for major studios.”

The Luhrmann movie was due to begin production this month, but has been pushed back to February because of scheduling conflicts and budget debates with 20th Century Fox, says the industry newspaper Hollywood Reporter.

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Nicole Kidman has unveiled a giant pink ribbon on the Stardome at London’s Madame Tussauds to launch Cancer Research UK’s campaign for breast cancer awareness month (October).

Nicole Kidman said: “I am honoured to mark the beginning of Breast Cancer Awareness Month and launch Cancer Research UK’s breast cancer campaign.

“As someone whose family has personally been affected by the disease, I can’t stress enough how important it is that women get to know and understand what is normal for their body. I hope that this Cancer Research UK campaign will raise awareness of breast cancer amongst women of all ages and encourage them to report any unusual changes and go for screening if they’re over 50. Together we will beat cancer.”

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Hollywood star Nicole Kidman has launched a breast cancer awareness campaign at Madame Tussauds.

The 39-year-old actress – who has personal experience of the disease – is the face of Cancer Research UK’s campaign for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Kidman’s mother Janelle was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was 17 and went on to beat the disease.

In an exclusive interview with ITV News Nicole said her mother’s cancer had affected her “in a way I will never forget”.

She said: “Your whole family gets so affected by it emotionally. There are a lot of issues involved.”

She added: “As someone whose family has personally been affected by the disease, I can’t stress enough how important it is that women get to know and understand what is normal for their body.

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Nicole Kidman’s new movie “Fur” is going to be remembered for many things, but one in particular: lots of nude people. I mean, like naked men and women, full frontal, the whole deal.

“Fur,” directed by Steve Shainberg, is an imagined story about the life of legendary photographer Diane (pronounced “de-ahn”) Arbus.

Arbus’ revered work includes nude portraits of regular people, as well as many hundreds of irregular types: short people, tall people and even a woman who used her feet for hands.

The film, which is simultaneously genius and bizarre, features the greatest selection of “freakish” characters since Woody Allen’s “Stardust Memories.” Whoever did the secondary casting deserves a prize.

But what will catch the most attention when “Fur” is released on Nov. 10 are the opening scenes in which Arbus, played brilliantly I thought by Kidman, arrives to take pictures at a nudist colony.

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NICOLE Kidman and Keith Urban almost called off their wedding after both were struck by a case of cold feet.

Country star Urban revealed he and new bride were hit with last-minute nerves before their June wedding in Sydney.

The singer, who has dedicated his new album “Love, Pain & The Whole Damn Thing” to the actress, admits he and his bride-to-be took a time out before they exchanged vows to make sure they were strong enough to get through the wedding, according to Starpulse.com.

Urban says the couple sat down after attending the Oscars in March to discuss their upcoming nuptials and were suddenly hit with cold feet: “We had one of those evenings afterward, where I think we were struggling with a bit of, ‘Are we doing the right thing?’”

But now he’s thrilled they both decided to press on with wedding plans and he insists home life for the two Aussies in rural Nashville, Tennessee is idyllic.

He adds, “This is a great base for us… I love the fact that I’ve been able to give her (Kidman) an environment where she can blossom.”

NICOLE Kidman holds the record for the most money paid per minute to an actor, according to the star-studded new edition of Guinness World Records, after she pocketed a reported $US3.71 million ($4.96 million) for a four-minute commercial for Chanel No.5 perfume.

Meanwhile, Madonna’s pay packet, Janet Jackson’s malfunctioning wardrobe, Hillary Clinton’s memoirs and Sigourney Weaver’s height are all world record breakers as well.

Veteran pop singer Madonna supplants younger rival Britney Spears in the latest edition of Guinness World Records, winning the title of highest annual earnings by a female singer after she took home an estimated $US50 million ($67 million) in 2004.

Despite the relentless media coverage of her personal life, Spears is also unseated by another 40-something as the world’s most searched-for person and most searched-for news item on the internet.

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A NEW, unauthorised biography of Nicole Kidman is drawing ire from reviewers weeks after the actor claimed the author misled her about his intentions.

David Thomson’s biography, Nicole Kidman, due for release in Australia on October 6, has sullied the reputation of the previously esteemed author of A Biographical Dictionary of Film.

The Times of London described it as “an odd book without an obvious audience” and The New York Times said it was merely “inane”.

Even one of Thomson’s employers, The Guardian, called the book “a cadenza of eccentric connoisseurship”.

It continued, “subtly but pointedly refusing the subordinate status of journalist or biographer, the author appears to be wistfully auditioning to be Nicole’s male co-star, or at the very least the male version of her ugly best friend”.

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