Prosecutors have recommended a non-custodial sentence for Winona Ryder, who was convicted of shoplifting last month. In submissions to the judge, lawyers asked that the actor be put on three years' probation, made to do 60 days' community service and fined $10,000, but not that she be sent to jail.

Edgar Scherick, the veteran Hollywood producer, has died aged 78. Scherick was prolific in both film and television since the late 60s, counting The Stepford Wives and Sleuth among his feature credits.

Zsa Zsa Gabor is in a more stable medical condition after slipping into a coma last week. The much-married actor and talk show guest, who is 85, continues to be treated in hospital for injuries she suffered last week when a car she was in struck a pole.

Phillip Noyce is returning to Australia to work on an adaptation of the Tim Winton novel Dirt Music, according to reports. The director currently has two films on release in the UK, the Graham Greene adaptation The Quiet American, and the Australian historical drama Rabbit-Proof Fence. Dirt Music is a mid-life crisis drama set in rural Western Australia. Noyce has told the press he hopes Nicole Kidman will take a starring role in the film.