NZ director may take on Bond

New Zealand-born director Lee Tamahori is in the running to direct the next instalment of James Bond.

The new Bond will begin shooting in early 2002 with Pierce Brosnan returning as 007 for a fourth time.

Tamahori made the critically acclaimed Maori drama Once Were Warriors and more recently directed the Alec Baldwin, Anthony Hopkins thriller The Edge and Along Came a Spider.

The last Bond, 1999's The World Is Not Enough, was directed by Michael Apted.

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Julie Andrews stars as Royal Mother

Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music star Julie Andrews stars as Queen Clariess Renaldi in her latest film.

Princess Diaries opens in the US this week and Dame Julie attended the Los Angeles premiere, drawing cheers from fans.

Dame Julie's voice was almost ruined after an operation on her throat in 1997.

In the film she plays the grandmother of a Californian teenager who becomes princess of a small European state.

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ER star to leave TV drama

Eriq La Salle, who plays surgeon Dr Peter Benton, will leave the hospital series at the end of the next season.

The 39-year-old actor - whose three year $27m (£19m) contract expires in May - has been part of the show since it began in 1994.

He has won three Emmy nominations for his role, but has developed interests in writing, producing and directing.

ER executive producer John Wells confirmed La Salle's departure saying he was "disappointed" to loose the actor.

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Britney and boyfriend may record duet

N'sync vocalist Justin Timberlake has told Rolling Stone magazine he wants to record a duet with his girlfriend, the chart-topping pop star Britney Spears.

Timberlake said he was helping Spears, 19, swap her trademark bubblegum brand of pop for a harder sound.

Now on tour to promote N'sync's new album, Celebrity, released on Monday, he said he hoped they could record a song together when the time was right.

"It definitely would be a spectacle. It would be huge," he told the magazine.