Brad Pitt to Play Brad Pitt Look-alike

Films about con artists, Beethoven, an Egyptian Queen and a pair of aging stoners are all set to hit the big screen soon.

Feb 16 2005

Brad Pitt will star in 'Chad Schmidt', the story of an actor who hits Hollywood in an effort to make it big in the movies, only to have his efforts scuppered at every turn thanks to his resemblance to another actor on the rise – one Brad Pitt. The 1980s-set comedy, for which Sony has reportedly paid more than $1 million on the basis of a pitch, will be written by Steve Conrad, the man behind Nicolas Cage's forthcoming comedy-drama 'The Weather Man'.

Ed Harris will play Ludwig van Beethoven in a film about the composer's developing obsession with his assistant while writing his Ninth Symphony. 'Copying Beethoven', which also stars Diane Kruger as the object of his affections, will be directed by Agnieszka Holland and is all set to roll before cameras in Budapest and London this spring.

Kevin Smith has announced his upcoming slate of films, and it looks like the writer-director will be a very busy man for the foreseeable future. First up is 'Clerks 2', a return to his low-budget early days with a four-week shoot, due to kick off at the end of April. Pic will be in both black and white and colour, and may or may not be called 'The Passion of the Clerk'. After that he will film his long-mooted 'Fletch' adaptation 'Fletch Won' (no word yet as to who will play the lead though) and then, early next year, he hopes to get his 'Flash Gordon'-esque sci-fi adventure 'Ranger Danger' off the ground.

Up-and-coming Brit stars Billy Boyd ('Lord of the Rings' trilogy, 'Master and Commander') and Eva Birthistle ('Ae Fond Kiss') are to star in con-comedy 'Save Angel Hope', a twisted tale of a swindle involving nuns, hurricanes and a non-existent hospital in the South Pacific. The film will be directed by first-timer Lukas Erni.

Halle Berry is to re-team with her 'Monster's Ball' director Marc Forster on a film about the Egyptian Queen Nefertiti, wife of the great Pharaoh Akhenaten. Speaking to Screen Daily, Berry said: 'It may not be my next film because Marc is working on a movie right now, but we're hoping to get it all put together and shooting by early 2006. We're both really excited about it.'

And finally, word has reached Time Out that stoner comedians Cheech and Chong are all set to burn up the big screen once more. Following a successful stage reunion at the recent US Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, the 'Up in Smoke' stars revealed they are developing a movie script and that it currently has the working titles 'Grumpy Old Stoners' and 'Lord of the Smoke Rings'. Refences to marijuana will no doubt be gratuitous and habitual.