McCartney on the road again

Paul McCartney is planning his first tour in eight years with a string of impromptu shows around the world.

The former Beatle, 58, is recording a new album, due out in September. "Recording new songs makes you want to get out and play them," said McCartney.

But McCartney has ruled out re-forming his post-Beatles band Wings, and will play instead with a team of young and relatively unknown musicians.

He has spent the last three years making a TV documentary about Wings.

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Asteroid honours Adams

Writer Douglas Adams who died last week has been honoured with an asteroid named after one of his characters from the Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

The Minor Planet Centre space agency has named the object "Arthurdent" and by coincidence first announced its plan on Friday, the day Adams died.

The asteroid was spotted in 1998 and the name was proposed by Felix Hormuth of Germany's Starkenburg Observatory.

Arthur Dent was played by Simon Jones in the BBC Radio 4 series and again in the later TV series.

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Malick to produce Brighton Rock

Director Terence Malick is planning to produce a new film adaptation of Graham Greene's classic novel Brighton Rock.

Malick, who ended a 20-year Hollywood sabbatical with his 1998 film The Thin Red Line, has made it clear that he will not direct the film.

Greene's novel was previously filmed by John Boulting in 1947, with Richard Attenborough starring as small-time gang leader Pinky.

Shooting is scheduled to begin in the UK during 2002.

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Home and Away to film in UK

Episodes of the hit Australian soap Home and Away are to be shot in London next month to mark the return of the show to UK television in mid-July.

The soap is now 15 months ahead of UK transmissions so the episodes, a reunion for Marilyn and Donald Fisher, should air here in early 2003.

Channel 5 bought the show when ITV's rights expired but a contract clause prevented it airing the show for a year.

The soap's ITV slots were taken by Crossroads.

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Kasdan to direct King thriller

Big Chill director Lawrence Kasdan is to direct and produce a film adaptation of Stephen King's The Dreamcatcher.

The project marks King's seventh collaboration with Castle Rock Entertainment, including hit films Misery and The Shawshank Redemption.

The thriller, about four childhood friends with a special bond, will be adapted for the screen by William Goldman, says The Hollywood Reporter.

Kasdan is best known for his work on Grand Canyon and The Accidental Tourist.

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Bjork goes to church

Icelandic music star Bjork will debut her album Vespertine in a church in Harlem, New York, next week.

The Riverside Church gig will consist of two 45-minute sets, featuring Bjork with harpist Zeena Parkins and West Coast sound artists Matmos.

Vespertine will be Bjork's first album of new material since 1997's Homogenic.

Tickets for the May 22 performance are on sale through Bjork's website at www.bjork.com.