“Star Wars” and “Trainspotting” star Ewan McGregor is in talks to join the cast of “Angels & Demons”, the sequel to “The Da Vinci Code”. If the Scottish star is hired he will play a member of the Vatican named Camerlengo Carlo Ventresca, the aide to the Pope. McGregor’s clergyman joins forces with Tom Hanks’ Professfor Robert Langdon and a woman (to be played by “Munich” star Ayelet Zurer) who try and reveal a secret organization that is determined to set off a bomb during a conclave in the Vatican.

Ron Howard will return to direct the sequel which is based on Dan Brown’s prequel to “Da Vinci”. Filming starts this summer for a 2009 release.

A 29-year-old driver assigned to transport a one-of-a-kind Aston Martin car to the set of the latest James Bond film has had a high profile auto accident. Fraser Dunn was behind the wheel of the $265,000 custom built car and driving it to the “Quantum of Solace” set near Lake Garda in northern Italy when he lost control of the vehicle, crashed through a barrier, and plunged into the water. Dunn escaped the submerged car with minor injures and swam safely to the shore. The 007 production had to act quickly to try and save the vehicle. It was successfully winched out of Lake Garda but the condition of the car is unknown. Reports indicate that it had been heavily raining during the time of the accident which might have led to Dunn losing control of the luxury automobile.

“Quantum of Solace” is the second outing for Daniel Craig as Ian Fleming’s super spy agent. The production had plans to move on from Italy to Spain this week but the recent accident may have put a crink in those plans. The movie is scheduled to be released in November.

The legal battle between “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling and the creator of an unauthorized Potter encyclopedia took a turn yesterday when the judge overseeing the case suggested that the billionaire writer try and settle out of court with the defendant. Rowling is suing Steven Vander Ark and his publisher to stop the latter’s reference book, “The Harry Potter Lexicon”, from being published. The 400-page tome collects the minutiae of Potter’s magical world. Vander Ark was the curator of an online website where Harry Potter fans could read about the spells and creators found in Rowling’s books and the movie adaptations. Rowling herself praised Vander Ark’s efforts when they were done for free but now she is confronting him on the charge that he and his publisher are profiting from her copyrights.

In U.S. District Court Judge Robert Patterson has been reviewing the case and foresees that even when a verdict is reached by him the case will continue on for years in appeals court. The judge wants to see the two parties work something out without the help of the law. “I think this case, with imagination, could be settled,” said Patterson.

With three more “Harry Potter” movies still to be released and interest in the boy wizard expected to remain high for several years to come, the money that stands to be made by Vander Ark and his publisher could be substantial indeed. Rowling herself is a billionaire from creating the Harry Potter series and insists that the reason why she is blocking the publishing of the unauthorized lexicon is because she has plans herself to write one.

A fourth “Austin Powers” movie may secretly be in development and the first casting decision could have already leaked out. According to the Boston Globe there is a rumor that blonde bombshell model Gisele Bundchen is the likely candidate to assume the female lead in the untitled fourth “Powers” film. If the gossip turns out to be for real the 27-year-old Brazilian Bundchen will step into the Austin lady shoes that have been worn by Elizabeth Hurley, Heather Graham and Beyoncé Knowles.

Mike Myers and director Jay Roach are supposedly working on a plot for the new “Austin Powers” which would tell the story from the perspective of Dr. Evil (which will once again be played by Myers.) It has been six years since “Austin Powers in Goldfinger” was released and made $200 million dollars for its studio, New Line Cinema. Myers has kept a low profile since then and kept to only working on the last two “Shrek” movies. His next live action role is as “The Love Guru” which opens in theaters on June 20.

Keanu Reeves thinks that there is hope for a second sequel to one of his early films which is now a cult classic, “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure”. While giving an interview with MTV recently the “Matrix” and “Speed” actor said that the idea of doing a third Bill & Ted movie was still being kicked around by Reeves and his co-star Alex Winter. “The most serious we ever got was a few years ago,” Reeves told the network. “I had once mentioned about doing it when we were 40. Now maybe the only shot we have is to do it when we’re 50.”

While Reeves has gone on to become a huge movie star his”Lost Boys” co-star Alex Winter left acting to become a director. The duo starred as the two loveable stoners turned time travelers in a pair of movies released back in 1989 and 1991. Reeves has just finished starring in a remake of “The Day the Earth Stood Still” and could don his Wyld Stallions rocker gear anytime.

When Keanu was asked about where he thinks the real Bill and Ted would be at this point in their lives he gave a humorous answer: “The same place they are now – in each and every one of us.”