Monty writer stripped of ideas

The writer behind the box office hit The Full Monty has admitted he cannot come up with an idea for a sequel.

Simon Beaufoy told Channel 4's The Big Breakfast that movie studio Fox is trying to persuade him to write a follow-up.

"I've got to have an idea but I don't know what to do with these men. They've taken their clothes off and I don't know what to do next."

The 1997 film drew huge audiences worldwide and made £50m in the UK alone.

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Billie in line for third chart-topper

Teenage singer Billie Piper is in line to get her third UK number one with her newly-released single Day & Night.

Early sales figures show the 17-year-old has sold nearly twice as many copies of the new track as the current chart-topper by Madison Avenue.

Her debut single Because We Want To in 1998 made her the youngest female solo singer in 38 years to have a number one.

The singer recently broke up with Ritchie Neville, of boy band Five, following an 18-month romance.

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Director plans Purple Rain spoof

Plans have been unveiled for an unofficial spoof of Prince's 1984 hit film Purple Rain.

The movie - called Velvet Hail - will be about an ageing rock star who was big in the 1980s but has now faded from view.

"It's a spoof and it'll be a musical," says director Jordan Brady - who has just made Waking Up In Reno with Billy Bob Thornton and Charlize Theron.

He says he hopes to entice American comic Chris Rock into the starring role.

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Wrestler to star in Joplin movie

The wrestler Stone Cold Steve Austin is set to make his film acting debut in a movie about 1960s singer Janis Joplin.

In Joplin - the Movie, Austin plays one of the Hell's Angels biker gang.

He appears alongside Jennifer Tilly and singer-actress Laura Theodore - who starred as Joplin in the stage musical Beehive and recreates the part on film.

The film will trace Joplin's life from childhood to her death at the age of 27 from a heroin overdose.

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Geldof searching for favourite word

A bid to find the nation's favourite word has been launched by former rock star Bob Geldof.

The project aims to compile "a cultural and linguistic Doomsday Book for the beginning of the new millennium".

Nominations should be sent on a postcard to:The Word, 245 St John Street, London EC1V 4NB or via the organisation's website.

The results will be announced on day one of The Word Festival on 22 September.

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Man to stand trial over Oscars theft

A man accused of stealing 55 Oscar statuettes days before this year's ceremony is to stand trial.

Truck driver Lawrence Ledent is charged with grand theft, although his attorney says he unknowingly drove off with the Oscars from a Los Angeles loading dock.

"He was unaware at the time that the pallets placed on his trailer were the Oscars," said Jay Jaffe.

"He believed that they were either shirts or hats."

Most of the Oscars were later recovered.

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Newman urges action to protect land

Actor Paul Newman is urging his neighbours to act to protect 18,000 acres of land owned by a water company in Connecticut.

The 75-year-old Hollywood icon, who lives in the area, told a press conference: "We must continuously jump up and down and pound on car roofs.

"We cannot look back 50 years from now and find out that this great heritage of open space has been lost because we didn't take action."

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Clooney accepts £400 to "guest" on ER

Hollywood star George Clooney received only £400 - the union minimum - for his guest appearance in the episode of ER which features Hathaway's departure.

His decision to return briefly to the series, which he left a year ago, was kept a secret from many of the programme's officials and executives.

Julianna Margulies, who played Nurse Hathaway for six years, has left the series to pursue a film career.

Meanwhile, Clooney has been in Cannes promoting his latest movie, the Joel Coen film Oh Brother Where Art Thou?