Singer and actress Aaliyah was killed in a tragic plane crash in the Bahamas along with eight other passengers. The 22-year-old rising star made her debut feature film in Romeo Must Die in which she co-starred opposite Jet Li. She had scheduled roles in two sequels to The Matrix. She will be missed.

The first "Matrix" sequel Matrix Reloaded has been delayed for release in May 2003. In order to fill the gap, Warner Bros. will produce a documentary on the original movie and the sequels and also a related anime series this fall.

Michelle Yeoh's upcoming film The Touch has been picked up by Miramax for rights in North America, the UK and Italy. The film marks Yeoh's debut as a producer under her Mythical Films venture. She will also star in the movie opposite Ben Chaplin. The film will be directed by Peter Pau and shot in China and Tibet. The adventure story is built around a traveling circus and is slated for release in the summer of 2002.

Disney has hired director David Dobkin to handle Shanghai Knights, the sequel to the successful Shanghai Noon that grossed over $100 million worldwide. The new film will reunite Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson in the leading roles.

Janet Yang who produced The Joy Luck Club has been bitten by the CTHD bug and is producing her own offering, Women Warriors of the Yang Family. This film also looks like it will be picked up by Miramax. The story is based on legendary kung fu femmes from the 9th century who lead the Chinese army against foreign invaders.

 

 

 
Even though he died in 1998 at the age of 88, Akira Kurosawa is still a force among Hollywood producers. Harbor Light Entertainment and a production company associated with director and Kurosawa fan Martin Scorcese are planning remakes of the classics Rashomon and Tengoku to Jigoku respectively.

 
If you're in Los Angeles between Oct. 2 and Dec. 2, consider seeing Tony Award winning Lea Salonga in the starring role of the revised Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Flower Drum Song. The show wil be playing at the Mark Taper Forum.

And finally, Universal has seen the light with regard to Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. He helped draw big crowds to The Mummy Returns , which landed him a starring role in the spinoff The Scorpion King. Now he also slated to star in the Brian Helgeland action comedy Hunting Bronze.
 

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