Showbiz: Brosnan keeps his licence to thrill

Pierce Brosnan can breathe easy - he won't have to give up his James Bond gadgets any time soon.

Eon Productions, which makes the 007 films, denied that it was looking to replace the 48-year-old Brosnan in the role of the suave international spy.

Producers Michael Wilson and Barbara Broccoli "confirm Pierce Brosnan will play James Bond in the forthcoming production [next year] and for the foreseeable future," Eon said in a statement.

The company was "concerned at the repeated rumours in worldwide publications and on numerous websites that they are in the process of looking for a new actor to play James Bond."

A report in the British press said Scottish actor Gerard Butler had been promised the role whenever Brosnan gave it up.

Brosnan has starred in three Bond films, most recently The World Is Not Enough.

* * *

For a change, intelligence prevailed at the American box office. Steven Spielberg's challenging, enigmatic AI debuted as the No 1 film, taking in $US30 ($71) million over the weekend.

A project Spielberg inherited from Stanley Kubrick, AI stars Haley Joel Osment, Jude Law and Frances O'Connor in the story of a robot boy programmed to love.

The movie's opening gross was well below the performance of past Spielberg summer blockbusters, but a solid return given the intellectual demands AI places on audiences.

The 10 top-grossing films were: 1 AI, 2 The Fast and the Furious, 3 Dr Dolittle 2, 4 Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, 5 Baby Boy, 6 Atlantis: The Lost Empire, 7 Shrek, 8 crazy/beautiful, 9 Pearl Harbor, 10 Swordfish.

* * *

Director John McTiernan's remake of Rollerball will roll into theatres later than expected.

The movie was due out on August 17 in the US but now is scheduled for release in the first quarter of next year, according to trade newspapers.

MGM marketing man Robert Levin denied that he delayed the release because of worries about the film's quality.

McTiernan's update of Norman Jewison's 1975 futuristic action flick stars Chris Klein and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos.

* * *

Moulin Rouge stars Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor have won nominations for actor and actress of the year in the 2001 Hollywood Film Festival awards.

Moulin Rouge is among the nominations for movie of the year, along with Blow, Bridget Jones' Diary, Memento, Pearl Harbor and Shrek.

Other actor of the year nominations go to Johnny Depp (Blow), Colin Firth (Bridget Jones' Diary), Anthony Hopkins (Hannibal), Ben Kingsley (Sexy Beast) and Guy Pearce (Memento).

Kate Beckinsale (Pearl Harbor), Penelope Cruz (Blow), Angelina Jolie (Lara Croft: Tomb Raider), Julianne Moore (Hannibal) and Renee Zellweger (Bridget Jones' Diary) get the other actress of the year nods.

The awards will be handed out on August 6.