ven Hollywood's biggest stars must feel insecure on occasion. Mel Gibson has got to feel badly that he's actually been turned down for a film...because someone better came along! The movie in question is called Endurance, and director William Peterson says Mel would be fine, but he ain't Russell Crowe, who's definitely Peterson's first choice. Crowe also works cheap - comparatively speaking. He only wants $14 million for the part, whereas Mel commands more than $20 million a picture.

  Drew Barrymore has shed her Charlie's Angels threads in favor of a business suit these days. Barrymore, executive producer of the movie, is now in meetings with studio execs to discuss a sequel to Angels, which has grossed around $100 million so far, making it one of the biggest hits of the year. But here's the problem. Drew didn't think to sign the other two girls for the sequel and you can bet their asking price will skyrocket. For the record, Drew earned about $9 million for the flick, Cameron Diaz got 12, and Lucy Liu scored a cool million. But all three, as well as the director, say they would happily be up to the task of re-teaming.

  Johnny Depp has landed the plum role of famed writer and poet Christopher Marlowe in a $20 million movie based on the playwright's life. Marlowe lived during the time of Shakespeare, and was not only a great writer, he was rumored to be a spy as well.

  Actor-director Ed Burns, former boyfriend of Austin Powers star Heather Graham, is now dating model Christy Turlington. Christy recently split with long-time guy-pal Jason Patric. Meanwhile, Graham, who was rumored to be seeing The Patriot hunk Heath Ledger, is now said to be dating British actor Rufus Sewell.
Matthew Broderick  Talk about devoted! Sarah Jessica Parker was recently in L.A. without hubby Matthew Broderick, and missed him so much that she booked a hotel room on one condition - that her suite overlook a large Gap billboard on the street that featured a huge picture of Matthew himself, modeling Gap clothes.

  Al Pacino has played some pretty powerful people, but it's quite possible that his biggest role will come from playing one of history's smallest characters. Rumor has it that Al will portray Napoleon Bonaparte in an upcoming movie called Betsy And The Emperor.

  Imagine being in the throes of ecstasy with Julia Roberts and she just can't stop giggling. It seems that Brad Pitt and Julia were shooting a love scene from their new movie The Mexican, but the scene had to be shot over and over when Julia couldn't stop her laughing fits. Julia blames Brad, whom she says tickled her constantly during the scene. Oh, the tough life of a movie star.

  Quentin Tarantino, who's been lying low the past few years, is back. Six years after the phenomenon of Pulp Fiction, Tarantino is working on another creation that he will write and direct. The movie is called Kill Bill and will star Uma Thurman who, of course, had a memorable role in Pulp Fiction.

  Robert Duvall, who just finished shooting John Q in Toronto with Denzel Washington and Anne Heche, is now setting his sights on a very personal project - a movie about the tango. Duvall is a big tango fan and he wrote a script about it several years ago. After some positive feedback from director Francis Ford Coppola, Duvall decided to make the film. He'll play a New York hitman who travels to Argentina.

Helen Hunt  Oscar winning actress Helen Hunt is said to be up for the lead role in the new flick Wendy And The Lost Boys, an update of the Peter Pan character. Hunt would play a woman who runs a support group of men who try to sabotage her relationships.

  We hear that Matt Damon got the shock of his life in L.A. recently. Matt was dining in a posh restaurant when he got up to use the men's room. When he got there, he realized a female fan had followed him in there, stripped down to her birthday suit, and offered herself to him. Matt declined, and quickly went back to his table, his face completely drained of color.

  After much speculation, it looks like the role of the bumbling Inspector Clouseau will go to Mike Myers. Although we once heard that Kevin Spacey was up for the part, it seems that director Ivan Reitman wanted Myers - and who can argue with that? Mike is also set to work with Dan Aykroyd and John Goodman in a new comedy called Law Of The Yukon. It would star Dan and John as two mounties hunting for the biggest villain in the Yukon, played by Myers.