Ewan’s Italian Job

Ewan McGregor is to continue his grand tour of Europe by swapping the nightclubs of Paris for the palaces of Renaissance Italy. He has just signed up to star as a corrupt priest in Borgia, Neil Jordan's eagerly-awaited take on the first family of crime. Ewan will play Cesare Borgia, a thoroughly unpleasant character whose status as a man of the cloth does nothing to stop him bumping off his sister's husband, not to mention his own brother. The $55 million production, due to start filming later this year, will follow the goings-on of Cesare, his sexually prolific sis Lucrezia and their father Rodrigo, who became Pope Alexander VI and ran the Vatican like a 15th century Mafia. Ewan took on the role after Lord Of the Rings star Viggo Mortensen pulled out of negotiations in favour of Disney's western adventure Hidalgo.