Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg are teaming up to relaunch a stalled remake of "The War of the Worlds." The powerhouse tandem has hired screenwriter David Koepp ("Spider-Man," "Mission: Impossible," "Jurassic Park") to rewrite Josh Friedman's ("Chain Reaction") script based on H. G. Wells' classic 1898 alien-invasion novel. Cruise will star in the film, which is not expected to shoot until late 2005. The first movie based on "The War of the Worlds" opened in 1953, but the best-known telling of the story was Orson Welles' famous 1938 radio broadcast, which ignited a nationwide panic when listeners believed it to be true. ... In the meantime, Cruise is preparing to film "Mission: Impossible 3" this summer with "Narc" director Joe Carnahan and has "Collateral" opening in August. Spielberg is completing work on "The Terminal" with Tom Hanks and Catherine Zeta-Jones. ...

Charlize Theron will star in "Aeon Flux," a futuristic assassin drama based on the eponymous animated MTV cult favorite. Karyn Kusama ("Girlfight") will direct the movie, which begins filming in June. ... Theron will first follow her Oscar-winning role in "Monster" with "Head in the Clouds," a romantic drama co-starring beau Stuart Townsend. She also shot "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers" with Geoffry Rush for HBO. ...

"Coyote Ugly" star Piper Perabo will play Justin Timberlake's love interest in "Edison," the singer's movie debut. Shooting is under way in Vancouver with Kevin Spacey, LL Cool J and Morgan Freeman also onboard. ... Paris Hilton has joined Elisha Cuthbert and Chad Michael Murray in the cast of "House of Wax," a remake of 1953 3D spooker "House of Wax." The hotel heiress will play one of a group of friends who fall prey to demented killers. ... "The Passion of the Christ" star Jim Caviezel met with Pope John Paul II on Monday to discuss his role as Jesus in the hit film. The pontiff then blessed the devoutly Roman Catholic actor. ...

Will Ferrell and Nicole Kidman have begun work on a big-screen version of the classic '60s TV show "Bewitched." Nora Ephron ("Sleepless in Seattle") wrote and is directing the July 2005 release. ... In other small-to-big-screen news, a live-action "Thunderbirds," based on the '60s puppet series, opens in August with Bill Paxton starring. And a "Magnum, P.I." movie is in the works, although no roles have been filled, according to a Universal Pictures spokesperson. ...

Meanwhile, "The Lord of the Rings" hobbit Dominic Monaghan is making the opposite move and heading to the small screen. He and Ian Somerhalder ("Rules of Attraction") will star in the ABC pilot "Lost," from "Alias" creator J.J. Abrams. "It's the most expensive pilot ever filmed. I think it's like a $10 million pilot," Monaghan boasted. "It's about survivors of a plane crash who manage to get themselves on a deserted island with a lot of freaky stuff going on, animals they've never seen before. It's how they survive in that situation." ... Monaghan will next appear in "Shooting Livien." "It's a story about a rock and roll band obsessed with the Beatles that is on the brink of breaking up, even when they're releasing their first album," he explained. "The lead singer ["Roswell" 's Jason Behr] is kind of lost in his own head. It kinda follows the story of a John Lennon meeting his Yoko Ono and how the rest of the band responds to that. It's an interesting look at how when you're getting close to success, the kind of things that come in on either side of your head distract you from what you're really going for." ...

After Ben Affleck complained he had not received his Worst Actor Razzies last month for "Gigli," "Paycheck" and "Daredevil," or for "Pearl Harbor" a few years ago, the Golden Raspberry Award Foundation had Larry King deliver a trophy to the actor Tuesday on his CNN show. Affleck responded by giving it back to King as a gift. "It's a piece of crap," King responded. ... "Without a Trace" star Enrique Murciano has signed on to play Sandra Bullock's love interest in "Miss Congeniality 2," which begins shooting in April. John Pasquin ("The Santa Clause") is directing the movie, which will find Bullock's FBI Special Agent Gracie Hart traveling to Las Vegas on a new case with a fellow agent played by Regina King. ...

"Unchain My Heart: The Ray Charles Story," starring Jamie Foxx as the soul singer, is due in theaters October 29. Taylor Hackford ("The Devil's Advocate") directed. ... The release of Russell Crowe's "Cinderella Man" has been delayed three months, until March 2005. Universal Pictures claims it needs more time to market the movie, which reunites Crowe with director Ron Howard and producer Brian Grazer, the Oscar-winning team behind "A Beautiful Mind."