All Change For Allen

Only three weeks before production was due to begin on Woody Allen's first London-based film, there has been a major change in the cast. The female lead was originally set for Kate Winslet, but she has stepped down and been replaced by Scarlett Johansson. On Friday Winslet cited family reasons for her decision to step down. She has already had costume fittings for the film, but withdrew so that she would be able to publicise Finding Neverland, her film about JM Barrie with Johnny Depp and Dustin Hoffman (see the trailer here), and spend more time with her husband, Sam Mendes, and two children. Today however comes the news that Scarlett Johansson has stepped into the breach in her place, adding another film to her already-creaking schedule, which includes roles in The Black Dahlia, Mission: Impossible 3 and The Spongebob Squarepants Movie. Allen's film also stars Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Brian Cox and Emily Mortimer, but details of the plot, and indeed title, are still under wraps.