Potter Has A Rival

British playwright Tom Stoppard is currently the writer of choice for Hollywood, where he's being chased for two big projects. A week or so ago, **Empire Online **reported that Stoppard was being courted as scriptwriter for the fourth outing in the Indiana Jones series. Then came the news that he was going to be too busy to take up the Indiana position. This morning, the reason for that became clear as New Line Cinema revealed it was in negotiations with Stoppard to take the 'His Dark Materials' trilogy by Philip Pullman to the big screen. Fans of Pullman, whose children's books have struck a chord with ankle-biters and adults alike, will be delighted at the news, which puts the trilogy as the next big thing for New Line following their fabulously successful adaptation of The Lord of the Rings. Initial reports suggest that the trilogy will be slimmed down to form two movies