Lord of the Rings' Karl Urban will take his first starring role in a major Hollywood production in the celluloid adaptation of the blast 'em up video game Doom, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The Kiwi actor, who played Eomer in Peter Jackson's fantasy trilogy, is to star as John Grimm, the leader of a special operations team which will form the film's focus. Also to star is former wrestler The Rock, with production starting late next month for an August 2005 release.

New horror movie, The Scarecrow, will see the Pang brothers and Sam Raimi team up for a film about a family who move into a rundown sunflower farm with a sinister secret.

The Pangs - Danny and Oxide - will direct while Evil Dead supremo Raimi takes on producer duties. The script, by Collateral scribe Stuart Beattie, sees some strange goings-on as the farm's new owners begin to prosper. It will be the third film from the Pangs, who previously worked together on The Eye and Bangkok Dangerous.

The Curse of the Wererabbit - the new Wallace and Gromit film - will bring together the distinctive tones of Peter Kay and John Thomson, according to the Sun. Kay, star of Phoenix Nights, will provide the voice for bungling police officer PC McIntosh in the latest adventure from Oscar-winning animator Nick Park. Thomson, best known for the TV drama series Cold Feet, will provide voices for several characters in the £50m production, claims the newspaper.

Heckler, for New Line Cinema, is the predictably titled film which is set to see Vince Vaughn play a heckler who causes an NBA superstar to get suspended. The star of Swingers and Daredevil is tapped to play a character who has the tables turned upon him by said sportsman, according to the Hollywood Reporter. No director has yet been announced for the project, but New Line's own Mike Karz will produce.