The kids get flats from the Indian government. Irrfan Khan lands a role in The Life of Pi. Dev Patel gets snapped up by Manoj Night Shyamalan for his next movie, The Last Airbender (though I am not sure that’s such a good thing!). And Freida Pinto, Hollywood’s latest style icon, will now be part of Woody Allen’s next flick.

Freida Pinto photo

The untitled movie will go into production in July 2009.

Freida Pinto confirmed the news saying, “Yes, it”s up (begins) in July (09). So thank you, Danny Boyle, for helping me take off.”

Woody Allen has the reputation of providing actresses with remarkable characters in his movies, the last being Vicky Cristina Barcelona, which got Penelope Cruz an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the movie. Woody Allen had written and directed Vicky Cristina Barcelona.

Freida Pinto will star in Woody Allen

The movie will also star Naomi Watts, Josh Brolin and Anthony Hopkins, and will be produced by Letty Aronson, Steve Tenenbaum and Jaume Roures.

Woody Allen’s upcoming flick Whatever Works, written and directed by him, will be released in June 2009. The star cast of Whatever Works includes Evan Rachel Wood, Patricia Clarkson, Kristen Johnston, Larry David, Ed Begley, Jr., Michael McKean, and Henry Cavill.

Frieda Pinto's John Galliano blue 2009 Oscar dress photo

24-year-old Freida Pinto was a model before she was chosen for the role of Latika in Slumdog Millionaire, appearing in ads like as Hutch, Wrigley’s Chewing Gum, Škoda, Airtel, and DeBeers. She also did an acting course from The Barry John’s Acting Studio in Andheri, Mumbai.

Freida Pinto won the 2009 Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture for Slumdog Millionaire. She is not only a sought-after actress after the success of Slumdog Millionaire, but is much admired for her sartorial choices.

Freida Pinto on Vogue March 2009 cover

Freida Pinto, who is on the cover of Vogue India’s March 2009 issue, made it to time.com‘s Best Oscar Dresses list. She featured in Special Edition for the Oscars: Vogue’s Ten Best Dressed, and was on Vogue.com’s Ten Best Dressed list for three weeks in a row.

Freida has also struck some raunchy poses for GQ’s February 2009 issue.

Freida Pinto GQ photo

Cate Blanchett photo

Latest reports say that Cate Blanchett has been cast as Maid Marian, in the movie that stars Russell Crowe in the lead.

We had reported in June 2008, that the movie Nottingham, written by Ethan Reiff and Cyrus Voris, would be a different take on the original. The movie was to be told from the point of view of the Sherrif of Nottingham. Sienna Miller had been signed up to play the role of Maid Marian. There were rumors that Christian Bale may play the role of Robin hood.

All of that has been overturned, unfortunately. The movie will no longer be called Nottingham, though a new title has yet to be announced.

Russell Crowe will play Robin Hood (he really will have to lose weight now), and Cate Blanchett will replace Sienna Miller. All in all, the movie will be a straightforward textbook retelling of the story.

Robin of Loxley abandoned as a child finds a home with the people of Nottingham. Deeply afraid of falling in love, he is undone when he meets the strong and beautiful Maid Marian.

The new script has been written by Brian Helgeland. Scott Ridley, Russell Crowe, and Brian Helgeland have worked together earlier in the 2000 Gladiatior. Brian Helgeland was also the co-writer of the Russell Crowe-starrer LA Confidential.

Nottingham will go into production in April 2009 with a budget of $130 million. The movie, which was supposed to be released in 2009, will now be released in 2010, hopefully. Unless they decide to make another change where Kate Blanchett (Maid Marian) would be an evil witch, and Russell Crowe would be the sherrif of Nottingham who ropes in Robin Hood (his lost twin) to fry Maid Marian.

This is not the first time Robin Hood has caught the fancy of film makers. The first Robin Hood movie The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) was made with Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland, in the lead roles of Robin hood and Maid Marian.

The more popular Robin hood is the mushy Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, starring Kevin Costner and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio. that came in 1991.

In 1993, a take-off on Robin Hood, Robin Hood: Men in Tights, was released.