The aim is to start filming next summer and have the film ready to hit cinemas just as the seventh and final TV series is coming to an end.

"I realise it's a Herculean task to do it in that time frame but we're going to try," Carter told the New York Daily News.

Titanic sales expected when video released

A Titanic ball which aims to recreate the elegance of the doomed liner is being held to celebrate the film's release on video in the UK.

The ball marks the October 19 video launch and guests will pay £75 for a ticket, with proceeds going to fund a Raleigh International youth expedition.

Liverpool, the fated liner's city of registration, is playing host to the ball which will be in Edwardian dress and will feature Titanic-style entertainment.

Gibson: family man

Hollywood megastar, Mel Gibson is to become a father again at the age of 42, according to a US newspaper.

The Oscar-winning Braveheart film-maker and wife Robyn already have six children - aged between eight and 17-years-old.

However, there's no word on when the baby will make his or her premiere, says USA Today.

Gibson can currently be seen in the fourth instalment of the Lethal Weapon series. His next film, the thriller Payback, is due out next year.

Minogue: pursuing big screen success

Neighbour's actress turned pop singer Kylie Minogue is to star in two privately financed Australian films in the near future.

Sample People will be the first film she has appeared in for a decade and the second with be Cut, a horror flick.

Her film career to date includes her role as a rebellious teen in The Delinquents and a cameo in Mortal Kombat.

Minogue had a string of hits in the late 80s and early 90s following her first No 1, I Should Be So Lucky, but said earlier this year that she would not continue to make records if she had lost her musical appeal.

Denver died in October 1997

A casting search is on for an actor to play the late John Denver in a two-hour television biopic planned by Granada's US production arm.

The project will be based mainly on Denver's autobiography Take Me Home.

However, Granada has also secured the rights to Denver's story from his first wife, his children and key colleagues.

The singer died last year when his light plane crashed into Monterrey Bay in California.

Madonna: Hindus give approval

Hindu scholars have praised Madonna's "mantra pop" album Ray of Light after initial fears about her pronunciation of the ancient Sanskrit language.

The scholars had criticised the singer for using sacred religious chants in her pop songs. She has also been accused of offending Hindus throughout the world by wearing a revealing outfit and a sacred Hindu marking for her performance of the hit song Ray of Light at the MTV awards.

However, despite some inconsistencies in her mantras, scholars at the holy city of Varanasi said the megastar was "doing well" after actually hearing her sing.

Streisand: planning final concert tour

Newly-weds Barbra Streisand and actor James Brolin may soon be working together.

Brolin, the star and executive producer of the TV series Pensacola: Wings of Gold, is said to have asked his wife to direct an episode.

Streisand, who produced A Star Is Born and wrote and directed Yentl, is busy with preparations for a new album.