Imagine that you are a movie director and Brad Pitt leaves your project. You are without a leading man for the movie and you are supposed to begin filming in a month. Who would you try to woo at the 11^th hour? If you were Kevin Macdonald (“The Last King of Scotland”) the answer would be Russell Crowe!

Shortly before the American Thanksgiving holiday Pitt departed Macdonald’s new film “State of Play” citing problems with the movie’s screenplay that couldn’t be corrected due to Hollywood’s writers strike. With the clock ticking Macdonald quickly made a phone call and hopped on a plane to race off to Australia for a hastily convened meeting with Crowe. It seems to have worked because now Crowe is the new leading man for the film. The “Gladiator” star will play a political consultant working for a major newspaper that stumbles across clues linking a fast-rising politician (Edward Norton) to a murder investigation.

Crowe will begin working on “State of Play” after the New Year. He will need to be done working on that film by March at the latest when he is slated to play the Sheriff of “Nottingham”.

Whom do think is the leading Hollywood actress that makes the most money? “Pretty Woman” Julia Roberts would be a good guess but you would still be wrong. What about Angelina Jolie? You would still be wrong. Would you believe that it is Reese Witherspoon?

The “Legally Blonde” and “Sweet Home Alabama” star tops the list for the top actress earnings for 2007 according to “The Hollywood Reporter”. Even though her latest film, “Rendition”, failed to perform at the box office Witherspoon will command between $15 million to $20 million dollars per picture that she makes. She is presently making the comedy “Four Christmases” and is helping to produce a horror film called “Our Family Trouble”.

Angelina Jolie came in number two by making about the same wage that Witherspoon does. Cameron Diaz is number three with an average payday of about $15 million a movie. For Diaz’s work on “Shrek the Third” she is rumored to have made in the neighborhood of $30 million thanks to the profit sharing plan she and her co-stars shared.

Nicole Kidman was number four and Renee Zellweger number five with their $10 to $15 million dollar cost per movie. Rounding out the remaining top ten were Sandra Bullock (#6, $10-15 million), Julia Roberts (#7, $10-15 million), Drew Barrymore (#8, $10-12 million), Jodie Foster (#9, $10-12 million) and Halle Berry (#10, $10 million).