Harrison Ford is set for a new sidekick when he returns to the big screen as Indiana Jones - in the shape of actress Scarlett Johansson. Tom Cruise has been championing the Oscar nominee for a part in pal Steven Spielberg's fourth Indiana Jones movie as the pair work together on Armageddon drama War of the Worlds. Cruise has been working with Johansson on the third Mission: Impossible movie and he's convinced she'll be perfect for the new Jones film, according to Australia's NW Magazine. An insider says, "Steven was saying there is a shortage of young actresses who can carry off a strong role. He considered Natalie Portman, but she's too connected with Star Wars - Tom suggested Scarlett."

Actress Gwyneth Paltrow is using her movie to reunite her former boyfriend Brad Pitt with his estranged wife Jennifer Aniston. The Hollywood star is reportedly attempting to bring the couple - who announced their split in January - back together on the set of the Pitt-produced movie Running With Scissors, by asking Aniston to join them on the project. Paltrow was engaged to Pitt in 1996 and, despite the heartbreak she suffered after they separated, she's desperate for her ex-beau and Aniston to rekindle their romance. A source says, "Gwyneth has been telling them she wants them to work very closely together on her new film."

Comedian Chris Rock is set to give fans a taste of his life as a child in Brooklyn, New York, in a new sitcom. Rock, who hosted last month's Academy Awards, will narrate Everybody Hates Chris, which will reflect on the life on an eldest child living in a strict home being bussed to a predominantly white school in 1982. The funnyman will also serve as one of the show's executive producers.

Maverick film-maker Quentin Tarantino abandoned plans to direct the next James Bond film after Pierce Brosnan was fired by studio heads. The Kill Bill director was devastated when he learned Brosnan's stint as 007 had come to a premature end - following a row with movie bosses over money - because he deemed the Irish actor the perfect Bond. And Tarantino reacted to the news by informing producers he would no longer be a part of the Casino Royale remake. He says, "I would have liked to do Casino Royale with Pierce. But once I heard Brosnan isn't going to be doing any more Bond films, that killed it as far as I was concerned. He's really proven himself to me as the James Bond for this generation. He can really pull off that 60s thing that Casino Royale would have. It should be more like the original book."

Miami Vice director Michael Mann is staying one step ahead of his hellraising star Colin Farrell on the set of the new movie - he's prepared for whatever trouble the actor gets in. Mann - who wrote and produced the 80s TV series on which the film is based - is even convinced Farrell will corrupt his Oscar-winning co-star Jamie Foxx. The movie maker jokes to Pagesix.Com, "I need a budget item for a bail bondsman - for both of them."

Hollywood beauty Salma Hayek has been instructed to pile on pounds of weight in preparation for her new big screen role as a serial killer. The actress - who won an Oscar nomination for her portrayal of artistic revolutionary Frida Kahlo in Frida - has signed up to play obese, sex- obsessed psychopath Martha Beck. With her accomplice Raymond Martinez Fernandez, Beck murdered 17 women in the 1940s after contacting them through newspaper adverts. A studio source says, "Beck was a huge woman with a huge sexual appetite. Salma won't put on all of the weight - some of it will be padding. But she isn't concerned about looking hideous."

Ashton Kutcher pranked Kirsten Dunst into believing she was about to be arrested on a drunk driving charge - as revenge for her snubbing his romantic advances four years ago. Kutcher, currently dating Demi Moore, teamed up with Dunst's pals Liat and Molly for the prank on his hit show Punk'd, and he admits it was all because the actress didn't take him up on his offer. He says, "About four years ago, I met her out at a karaoke place and asked her out on a date. And she never called me back. Not calling a guy back when he calls you is not cool. You should call him back... revenge is a bitch." During the prank, which aired in America last night, Dunst's pals pretended to down vodka shots and wine while the actress drank the real thing. They later encountered police at a sobriety checkpoint where Dunst's friend, who was driving at the time, purposefully backed into a police car and prompted the threat of all three girls being arrested. Dunst, who was close to tears before learning it was just a prank, admits, "I was so scared. That was really the best prank ever. I'm so happy it's not real."

The bosses of American Idol have leapt to action, after learning of a gay porn version of the talent search show. The video, American Porn Star, is a "talent contest" which features three judges, and a "competition" involving hardcore gay sex. The show is hosted by Jason Sechrest, who uses expressions and mannerisms similar to original Idol host Ryan Seacrest. Seacrest says, "I had to legally go after someone who was doing an American Idol porn. And I was host of the porn! And the guy's name was Seacrest, and he had blond spiky hair. "The only difference was, instead of a microphone, he was holding something else." Attorney Scott Zolke, who represents the show and Seacrest, says, "American Idol has become an immensely popular television show. So the value of the American Idol look is something that we cannot allow to get tarnished." Even before he saw the video, Us TV show Celebrity Justice reports that Zolke fired off a cease and desist letter to the producers, before meeting with the opposing side's attorney. Zolke says that after the meeting, the producers of American Porn Star agreed to alter the movie to distance it from the original.

Screen queen Sharon Stone celebrated her 47th birthday with new male admirers after an explosive bust-up with boyfriend Eason Jordan. The Basic Instinct star was determined to enjoy her holiday in Tahiti even though former CNN news executive Jordan flew home in a rage following an argument on the second day of the romantic break. One of Stone's new admirers distracted her from her personal troubles by arranging a group of Tahitian dancers and a birthday cake on her special day. But the next day the 47-year-old was photographed topless on the beach with yet another admirer, reports British newspaper the Daily Record.