Ashton Kutcher, one of several actors (others include Jude

Law and Josh Hartnett) who read for the lead in a new

"Superman" before director Brett Ratner bailed on the project,

remains interested in the role if the movie gets back on track and the

timing's right. "I read it, I liked the script, it was really cool,"

the "That '70s Show" star said recently. "It just didn't happen." ...

Kate Bosworth will follow her romantic comedy "Win a Date with

Tad Hamilton!," in theaters January 23, with "Beyond the Sea," a

biopic about singer Bobby Darin directed by and starring

Kevin Spacey. "It takes place in the '50s and '60s and '70s,"

the "Blue Crush" beauty explained. "I play a woman named Sandra

Dee, who was one of the biggest movie stars of that time. So it's

very glamorous, all wigs and makeup and stuff." And how's the director

doing? "Amazing," Bosworth said. "He knows how to pinpoint every little

emotion in someone he's directing, and it's really fulfilling." ...

After months of diving, swimming, weaponry and speedboat training,

Paul Walker and Jessica Alba began shooting the

deep-sea-diving thriller Into the Blue this week in the Bahamas.

Scott Caan, Josh Brolin and Ashley

Scott of "Dark Angel" co-star. ... Speaking of deep-sea movies, Cole Hauser, the villain in "2 Fast 2 Furious," has been cast in the horror thriller

"Cave," about a team of explorers who mysteriously mutate into primeval

beings after being stranded in a collapsed cave. ...

Brittany Murphy and manager Jeff Kwatinetz became engaged

January 9 at the Silent Movie Theater in Hollywood, according to

People magazine. The 26-year-old actress has been dating the

38-year-old agent for about a year. ... Christina Applegate is

in the jury pool for the high-profile Robert Blake murder trial.

The star of the 1970s TV series "Baretta" is accused of shooting his

wife in 2001. ...

The 10th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards were announced Thursday (January 15), with Johnny Depp ("Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl"), Peter Dinklage ("The Station Agent"), Ben Kingsley ("House of Sand and Fog"), Bill Murray ("Lost in Translation") and Sean Penn ("Mystic River") scoring nods for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role. Patricia Clarkson ("The Station Agent"), Diane Keaton ("Something's Gotta Give"), Charlize Theron ("Monster"), Naomi Watts ("21 Grams") and Evan Rachel Wood ("Thirteen") earned Female Actor in a Leading Role nominations. Winners will be announced during a February 22 ceremony at the Los Angeles Shrine Exposition Center and aired on TNT. ...

Erika Christensen has been busy doing press for "The Perfect

Score" and finishing the Stephen King-based "Riding the Bullet"

with David Arquette, but she still makes time for family.

Christensen landed her 17-year-old brother, Dane, an audition for her

flick "The Upside of Anger" (which also stars Joan Allen,

Kevin Costner, Evan Rachel Wood and Keri Russell),

and director Mike Binder (HBO's "The Mind of the Married Man")

"fell in love with him," she happily reported. "We didn't have much

screen time together, but we shot in London and my whole family came

over and spent time there." ...

When director Bernardo Bertolucci's ("Last Tango in Paris") "The

Dreamers" is released February 6 in New York and Los Angeles, it will

mark the first time a major studio has released a movie rated NC-17

since 1995's "Showgirls." "While the uncut version of 'The Dreamers'

may be sexually explosive, it is an amazing film," FOX Searchlight

Pictures chief Peter Rice told reporters. The movie, based on

screenwriter Gilbert Adair's novel, is about three movie-obsessed

teens, two of them siblings, in 1968 Paris who dare each other

sexually. ... Mel Gibson's controversial "The Passion of Christ"

will be released independently on 2,000 screens, the equivalent of a

major studio release, in February. The movie is in Latin and Aramaic

and covers the final 12 hours of Jesus Christ's life. ...

Billy Idol will likely not be introducing "Grow Old With You,"

but Adam Sandler's "The Wedding Singer" is being adapted into a

Broadway musical for the 2005-06 season. Tim Herlihy, who wrote

the movie set in the 1980s about a wedding entertainer who falls for an

engaged client, will adapt his screenplay. ... Cedric the

Entertainer and Christina Milian have been cast alongside

John Travolta and Danny DeVito in "Be Cool," the sequel

to 1995's "Get Shorty." F. Gary Gray ("The Italian Job") will

take over directing duties from Barry Sonnenfeld when the movie

is shot in February. James Gandolfini, Dwayne "The Rock"

Johnson, Uma Thurman, Vince Vaughn and Joe

Pesci also have roles. ...

Quigley Publishing Co.'s annual survey of the Top Ten Money-Making

Stars has Jim Carrey ousting Nicole Kidman for the top

earner in 2003. Jack Nicholson, Tom Cruise, Julia

Roberts, Johnny Depp, Russell Crowe, Tom

Hanks, Will Ferrell and Renee Zellweger round out the

top 10. ... "Finding Nemo" swam away with 12 nominations, including

Best Animated Theatrical Feature, for the 31st annual Annie Awards, to

be presented in February by the International Animated Film Society.

"Brother Bear" is second with seven nominations.