Russell Crowe may replace Heath Ledger in Dirt Music.

The play, August: Osage County, is to be made into a film.

Emma Thompson has chosen Nanny McPhee over Harry Potter.

And America Ferrera will star in American Tragic.

Russell Crowe is close to taking a role previously given to Heath Ledger. Moviehole, through Cinema Blend, say Crowe will take over the role in Dirt Music. Phillip Noyce is directing the film about a loveless couple living in a remote West Australian town. The source also says that the announcement of Noyce directing Above Suspicion may be a bit premature. We'll find out in time I guess.

The Pulitzer and Tony winning play August: Osage County, is to be made into a film. The Weinstein's have continued their association with the theatre and acquired the rights. Cinema Blend say the film is about a dysfunctional family, who all gather at the home they grew up in.

Don't expect to see Emma Thompson back in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Thompson says she won't be revisiting her role as Professor Sybil Trelawney. She told MTV she had to make a choice between Harry Potter and a second Nanny McPhee film. She feels there is no competition:

I’m making my own ‘Nanny McPhee’ next year. They mean much more to me...The Harry Potters are great big franchises that are something I’m not emotionally attached to or necessarily particularly creatively attached to. That’s more like doing a turn, whereas the Nanny McPhees are something I’ve written. The art is in those films, they’re very handmade, they’re something that’s very close to me. Those are the ones I really care about.

And finally America Ferrera is to produce and star in American Tragic. The film tells the story of a young war veteran who sets off on a cross country trip with his friend. Ryan O'Nan will play the young soldier, and Ferrera will play his wife. The news is from Variety.