Emily Blunt To Replace Katie Holmes in “Batman” Sequel?

Her star is clearly rising, but is she ready to take on the Dark Knight? Cinema Blend says Emily Blunt, who won a Golden Globe for Gideon’s Daughter, is a frontrunner to replace Katie Holmes in the sequel to Batman Begins:

Obviously Chris Nolan is actively looking for someone to take over Katie Holmes’ Rachel Dawes character in the new Batman film. Earlier this week rumor had it that they were considering Rachel McAdams for the part, but according to one of our regular scoopers, they may end up going with Devil Wears Prada star Emily Blunt. Word is that the folks behind the Batman Begins sequel are impressed with her, and may bring Blunt in to read for the role.

Mind you, Cinema Blend is still calling this a rumor, but we’d be stoked to see Emily and Christian Bale on-screen together. It couldn’t happen to a nicer lady, and I know for a fact that Emily does a kickin’ American accent. (She was actually supposed to do an American accent in The Devil Wears Prada before the producers decided her native Brit lilt added a nice touch of hysteria.)

Also in the news: Russell Crowe is to play the Sheriff of Nottingham in a “revisionist” film version of the Robin Hood tale, reports the Hollywood Reporter via the BBC. Um, sound familiar? The film’s little “twist” is that the Sheriff of Nottingham is the protagonist, with Robin Hood as the antagonist. No word on who will be playing Robin Hood in this film, which will start shooting later this year. Let’s hope whomever is cast can offset the box-office poison that is Russell Crowe. BBC AMERICA’s own Robin Hood series is set to premiere Saturday, March 3rd.

The Sun has “evidence” that more overt racism went on in the Celebrity Big Brother house. Allegedly, tapes show housemates singing a song referring to Shilpa Shetty as a “f–king P*ki.” Police are investigating the new claims. Director Ken Russell, who rowed with Jade Goody before exiting the Big Brother house, is convinced the maligned star is evil. He talks to The Times about it:

“It was an evil atmosphere. That’s what freaked me out. I’ve never had to live in that atmosphere, and I decided I wasn’t going to then. I thought Jade and her mother were both evil.” He doesn’t really mean that? “I am a great believer in evil,” he says, “being a lapsed Catholic.”

In other news:

• Has Kate Moss dumped Pete Doherty due to yesterday’s video in The Sun?(Daily Mail)
• A little island in the river Thames had a big impact on rock history.(BBC)
• The last Harry Potter comes out July 21.(BBC)
• The Hours are back from the dead.(Telegraph)
• 2007 will be the year of rock band reunion, and the Telegraph‘s Neil McCormick examines the No. 1 reason: “In the age of the download, the reliable spending habits of “Fifty Quid Man” (a music-loving nostalgic who still prefers the long aisles of record shops and iconography of packaging to the intangibility of the internet) has been identified as the saviour of the music business, and, judging by last year’s phenomenally successful Take That reunion, he may have been joined at the tills by his partner, Fifty Quid Woman.”
• A man that allegedly tried to break into Steve Coogan‘s househas been arrested.(Mirror)
• Jamelia calls the stories that her footballer boyfriend cheated on her “rubbish.”(Mirror)
• Scissor Sisters‘ next single will be “She’s My Man,” which, sadly, means a lot more to Brits than it does to Americans.(NME)
• The Klaxons prepare to rush America, and vocalist Jamie Reynolds talks toPitchfork about it. By the way, get a load of the Klaxons version of Justin Timberlake‘s “My Love.”, recorded live on BBC Radio.
• A very British band, Beautiful South, have announced they are disbanding after 19 years.
• Even Julie Andrews can’t spell “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.”(The Sun)
• Camilla loves goats’ milk ice cream.
• Apparently, yesterday there was some announcement that Britney Spears had enlisted the Pet Shop Boys for her new album. Tennant and Lowe deny this.
• Tanya Bower is maintaining her SiennaWatch, her SiennaVigil if you will…this time, she sends me Defamer‘s video of Miss Miller dropping the F-bomb on The Today Show.
• Footballers Wive$‘ Zoe Lucker (Tanya) has begun filming the new BBC drama, HolbyBlue, which is being produced by Life on Mars co-creator Tony Jordan.(Metro)

  Oh heavens: there’s a British series called So You Think You Can Nurse?! Thankfully, it’s not a breast-feeding competition.(Guardian)

• Kate Winslet says she won’t encourage her kids to act.(Contact Music)