• Paul Scofield (1922-2008) - British actor (pictured) who won an Oscar for his portrayal of Sir Thomas More in A Man for All Seasons and who was nominated again almost thirty years later for his supporting role in Quiz Show. He also co-stars in Frankenheimer's The Train, Branagh's Henry V, Zeffirelli's Hamlet, Hytner's The Crucible and Michael Winner's Scorpio, and he played the title role in Peter Brook's King Lear. He narrated the documentaries London and Robinson in Space and voiced the part of Akira Kurosawa in the documentary Kurosawa. He died of leukemia March 19, in West Sussex, England. (NY Times)
• Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008) - Oscar-nominated screenwriter of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Best known as a science fiction author, he wrote the novel-turned-film 2010, and his novels Rendezvous with Rama and Childhood's End are also currently being adapted. See Richard's full post for details of his death.
• Hugo Claus (1929-2008) - Belgian filmmaker, novelist and playwright. He wrote the screenplay for the 1958 Oscar nominee Dorp Aaan De Rivier and his directorial work includes the Berlin Film Festival nominee Vrijdag and an adaptation of his play De Verlossing. He died March 19 in Antwerp, Belgium. (BBC)

After disappointing comic book fans everywhere with Catwoman, the mono-monikered director Pitof should have gone back to his day job. He is a terrific special effects man, particularly for his work with Jean-Pierre Jeunet on such films as Delicatessen and Alien: Resurrection. But for all his recognition for the effects work, he's going to be best known for guiding Halle Berry through one of the lamest movies of the 2000s (it 'won' four Razzies including Worst Picture, Worst Director and Worst Actress). While he hasn't given up his day job yet (he's back with Jeunet for The Life of Pi and he's working on the next Astérix and Obélix movie), he's also not giving up on directing. His follow-up to Catwoman has just been announced as an independent crime thriller called Only in New York, starring Jim Caviezel.

Caviezel has some problems of his own coming on to this project, as he does with any project these days. Many of us will forever associate the actor with his role as Jesus in The Passion of the Christ, despite the fact that he hasn't physically resembled that role in anything since. I don't know if Hollywood also sees the difficulty with such a connection, but in looking at his IMDb listing I noticed that since The Passion he doesn't seem to be getting as much work as he had been before. Of course, it could be that Caviezel is the one keeping low, staying away from the city he calls "a cesspool piece of crap." Or it could be that producers want to avoid the kind of accidental humor that showed up in Deja Vu. Either way, I could only think of the possible religious elements when reading the description of Only in New York, which the Hollywood Reporter says is about, "a recently paroled street hustler looking for a new life and seeking redemption."

As if Pitof's and Caviezel's involvements weren't enough trouble for the production, Only in New York will be marked by an ironic and bogus title. It seems the film can't be shot only in New York, because it begins filming in Toronto in June. The whole production would probably be better off aborting this project and getting to work on self-parodic shorts for YouTube. Anyone interested in seeing Catwoman vs. Jesus?