Plans are afoot to turn The Fat Slags, the politically incorrect Viz comic strip, into a movie. Ed Bye, whose past form includes Kevin and Perry Go Large, will direct the film about a pair of corpulent and easy-going northern lasses. The Smack the Pony comedian Fiona Allen will star alongside Sophie Thompson, with Geri Hallwell pencilled in for a cameo, according to reports.

Sean Connery has dropped out of the Milos Forman adaptation of Embers, by the Hungarian novelist Sandor Marai. Winona Ryder and veteran Austrian actor Klaus Maria Brandauer are now waiting to find out who will replace Connery in the three-hander about a love triangle which drives a wedge between two men.

The Independent Spirit Awards, the indie-fied little brother to the Oscars, have moved in the shadow of the Academy Awards to an earlier date. The Oscars next year is moving from late March to late February, in a bid to cut down on campaigning by the studios. The Independent Spirit Awards are traditionally held on the day before the Oscar ceremony, and will be given out next year on February 28, with the big night on February 29.

Miramax has picked up a six-hour Italian film for distribution in the North American market. Il Meglior Gioventu (The Best Youth) has been a box office success in Italy, despite its bum-numbing length, which was lessened in the home country by showing the film in two parts.