Jeff Nathanson, who wrote "Catch Me If You Can" and "The Terminal" for Steven Spielberg, has been hired by the director and George Lucas to write the next "Indiana Jones" movie. The series' creators, along with star Harrison Ford, have said the three must agree on a script before the movie can move forward. ... Thomas Harris, the author who created Hannibal Lecter in his novels, is writing another book featuring the character and has already sold the film rights to the producer behind "Hannibal" and "Red Dragon." Called "Behind the Mask," the novel is said to be a prequel to "Red Dragon" that explains what turned Lecter into a cannibal. ...

Mark Ruffalo will join Gwyneth Paltrow, Ashley Judd, Sandra Bullock, Sigourney Weaver and Alan Cumming in "Every Word Is True," one of two movies in development about author Truman Capote and his bond with murderer Perry Smith. Filming is set to begin in January with Ruffalo playing Smith, who robbed and murdered a family of four in rural Kansas. Philip Seymour Hoffman and Chris Cooper are attached to the other Capote movie, shooting now. ...

With "Saw" taking in nearly $20 million during its first weekend, the producers and distributor behind the low-budget thriller are already working on a sequel for an October 2005 release. Director James Wan and screenwriter Leigh Whannell are involved only as producers, as the Australian duo are currently busy with another project. "We've been working on a script, like the definitive horror film," Whannell said. The two are not, however, shooting for a career in scary movies. "We're interested in stories rather than genres," Whannell said. "The thing that keeps us up at night is great stories that we come up with and we're like, 'Oh, that's so cool.' And it doesn't matter if it's science fiction, action, horror, musical, whatever." ...

Meanwhile, "Saw" star Cary Elwes has several films in the can, including "Edison" with Justin Timberlake and "The Trouble With Frank" with Jon Bon Jovi. "Believe it or not, Jon plays a loser," Elwes said. "When you think of Jon Bon Jovi you don't think, 'That loser,' at all. So he's definitely cast against type, but he plays a wonderful character. He plays a guy who is living in his sister's garage and ends up doing a pyramid scheme with credit cards and starts his own all-female hockey team. And I play the district attorney who has to bring him to justice, so it was a lot of fun." ...

While doing press for his upcoming "After the Sunset," Pierce Brosnan has insisted he is done playing James Bond and has suggested fellow Irishman Colin Farrell to fill his shoes. Brosnan said several actors could do it, but Farrell will "eat the head off them all." ... Quentin Tarantino is delaying production on "Inglorious Bastards," the working title of his long-expected movie based on World War II, to direct a kung-fu film with the dialogue in Mandarin Chinese. Tarantino told Total Film magazine he'll do a version dubbed in English, like the kung-fu movies that inspired him. ...

Stephen J. Cannell, who's producing "The A-Team" movie, has hired Bruce Feirstein (famous for James Bond movies) to write the script, which will be more violent and realistic than the TV series. Cannell is also adapting his TV drama "21 Jumpstreet" into a movie, as well as his novel "King Con." ... Moviegoers who check out "The Incredibles" over the weekend will catch a teaser trailer for "Cars," Pixar co-founder John Lasseter's first time in the director's chair since 1999's "Toy Story 2." "Cars," which features the voices of Owen Wilson, Paul Newman and NASCAR legend Richard Petty, chronicles the adventures of a racecar lost on his way to the track and is due in November 2005. ...

Ray Charles Jr., who co-produced the biopic on his late father, "Ray," also has another biopic finished. "I did a film about Alexander Pushkin, he was the forefather of Russian literature," Charles said. "I'm also busy building a restaurant [in Russia] named after my father." ... John Woo's production company is developing an action comedy titled "Espionage for Dummies" about a high school vice principal forced to rely on an "Espionage for Dummies" manual when he is mistaken as a spy. Stevie Long ("Starsky & Hutch") wrote the script. ...

John Carpenter has long been considering a sequel to his 1980 horror thriller "The Fog" but has instead signed off on a remake. Carpenter will produce along with Debra Hill, who co-wrote the original with the director. ... In other remake news, Jack Harris, who produced 1958's "The Blob," is remaking the campy cult classic. The movie was already remade once, in 1988. ...

Neve Campbell, Evan Rachel Wood and Jessica Lange will co-star in "The Mermaids Singing," about a young girl who returns to the remote and enchanted Irish island where she was born. Screenwriter Robin Swicord ("Practical Magic") will make her directorial debut on the indie adaptation of Lisa Carey's novel. ...