Daniel Craig was the producers' first choice to replace Pierce Brosnan as James Bond, dispelling reports that the prestigious role had been turned down by other actors during the protracted selection process. Producer Michael G. Wilson told Friday's press conference in London that he spent two years searching for the new British superspy, and a host of contenders including Clive Owen, Hugh Jackman and Ewan McGregor were not offered the part in Casino Royale. Wilson said, "(Daniel Craig) was the only one we offered the film to. There's been some speculation that we offered it to other people but that's not accurate." The 37-year-old, who will be the first blond Bond, is expected to portray a stripped down Bond in what is expected to be a darker exploration of the world of espionage. Craig added, "I want to take Bond somewhere he's never been before."

Hollywood legend Steven Spielberg has signed a deal with Electronic Arts (EA) to work on three original video games. The Saving Private Ryan director will act as executive producer on the Los Angeles-based projects, the first of which is already in progress and has been described as a next generation game with mass appeal. He says, "Having watched the game industry grow from a niche into a major creative force in entertainment, I have a great deal of respect for EA's understanding of the interactive format." The games will appear on the next generation consoles which will be released by Sony and Microsoft to replace their PlayStation 2 and Xbox machines. Neil Young, the head of EA's LA studio, says, "No one is more at the centre of understanding gameplay and great storytelling than Steven Spielberg. Being able to draw from Steven Spielberg's experience in crafting incredible stories and combine that with our view of interactivity means you will have richer fiction, deeper characters and better sense of immersion."

Lost star Josh Holloway has thanked the Honolulu Police for their support and help after he and his wife Yessica were robbed at gunpoint in their Hawaiian home on Wednesday. The hunky actor, who plays Sawyer in the hit TV show, was reportedly woken by the burglar in the early hours of the morning as he slept at his Honolulu pad. The thief took cash, credit cards and a Mercedes-Benz, which was later found abandoned. The 36-year-old says, "My family and I are fine and appreciate everyone's concerns and good thoughts. We are very grateful for the help of the Honolulu Police Department and the support of the local community."

Katie Holmes and former fiance Chris Klein haven't spoken to each other since their five year relationship broke down in March, the American Pie star admits. The Hollywood couple, who got engaged in 2003, gradually grew apart and the 26-year-old reveals to Details magazine how they fell out of love with each other completely. He says, "We grew up. The fantasy was over, and reality set in. We weren't lighting each other's fire anymore." And the magazine's deputy editor Brian Farnham, who spoke to the actor, reveals Klein has not spoken to Holmes since her engagement to Tom Cruise or subsequent pregnancy. Farnham says, "They have no contact. There was a rumor going around that she had been calling him but that turned out not to be true. They really broke it off completely." Nevertheless Klein maintains he has no regrets about his split from the Batman Begins beauty, and has been keeping busy. He says, "I'm not lonely. I'll tell you that, I'm certainly not crying myself to sleep at night, sucking my thumb. No, Dude, I'm out and about."

Tom Cruise's pregnant fiancee Katie Holmes has pulled out of her new film Shame On You, because she fears the stress of filming will harm her unborn child. The 26-year-old Batman Begins actress was contracted to star as Spade Cooley's wife in Dennis Quaid's movie biopic of the late swing legend. The news will cause further delay to filming in New Orleans - which has already been postponed because of the chaos caused by Hurricane Katrina. The Hollywood couple, who have yet to set a date for their forthcoming wedding, announced they were expecting their first child together two weeks ago.

Star Trek actor James Doohan's last wishes are set to be granted on December 6, when his cremated remains are launched into space. Commercial space flight operator Space Services Incorporated will launch the late actor's remains into space aboard its Explorers Flight, according to a company spokeswoman. She adds that the remains of more than 120 others will be aboard the flight, including those of an unidentified astronaut and Mareta West, the astrogeologist who determined the site for the first spacecraft landing on the moon. Doohan, who portrayed chief engineer Montgomery 'Scotty' Scott on the Star Trek TV series, died in July at the age of 85. To mark the flight into his final frontier, Doohan's family will hold a service for fans on a site near California's Vandenberg Air Force Base on the day of the launch. The actor's widow, Wende Doohan, says, "I can't think of a more fitting send-off than having some of his fans attend this, his final journey." Doohan's cremated remains will be packed into a special tube which will be ejected from the rocket and expected to orbit Earth for about 50 to 200 years before plunging into the planet's atmosphere and burning up.

Spike Lee is heading to New Orleans, Louisiana, to make a documentary examining whether race and politics played a role in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The Do The Right Thing director watched television coverage of the disaster while he was in Venice, Italy, for the city's film festival, and he's since compared the New Orleans situation to the 1974 film Chinatown, which starts as a simple detective story, but becomes an intricate tale of corruption and greed. He says, "People could not believe, especially the residents of the Ninth Ward (in New Orleans), that there wasn't hanky-panky in the flooding. And what I thought about automatically was Chinatown, the great film by Roman Polanski. The whole subplot of the whole thing is about water in Southern California and how it was not delivered to the people who needed it." Lee, who insists he will use "factual journalism, not creative narrative" in the probe, plans to have the project ready for next year's one-year anniversary of the hurricane.

Producers of the forthcoming James Bond movie Casino Royale have axed the legendary Miss Moneypenny character. Moneypenny, who has waved the suave super-spy off on some of his most perilous missions, been written out of the new film because she only fleetingly appears in Ian Fleming's original novel. Gadget-inventor Q, last played by John Cleese will also be absent from the new film - in which British actor Daniel Craig will play 007 for the first time. The news is the biggest indication the new film will deviate substantially from the spirit of previous Bond adventures. Co-producer Michael G. Wilson confirms, "Neither Miss Moneypenny nor Q will appear. Neither of them are in the book. The film will update the novel but stick very closely to the storyline."

Teri Hatcher, Lisa Kudrow, Courteney Cox, Tom Hanks and Rod Stewart are among the stars giving Lacoste's famous crocodile symbol a new look for charity. The quintet are among the celebrities putting their own artistic spin on the classic Lacoste polo shirt in a bid to raise funds for the fight against pediatric AIDS. The shirts will be unveiled later this month at Barneys New York in Beverly Hills and will be auctioned off online at Lacoste.com/usa. All proceeds from the charity auction will benefit the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric Aids Foundation.

Hollywood star Ben Affleck plans to turn his back on his acting career in the future and concentrate on politics. The Good Will Hunting star, who is expecting his first child with his wife Jennifer Garner, has been an outspoken supporter of the Hurricane Katrina relief effort, and he showed his political leanings when he attended last year's Democratic National Convention. He tells Fox News, "I'm interested in politics and like to be involved with them."