The girl-empowerment flick Sisterhood of The Traveling Pants was a mild hit at the box office, pulling in $37 million and received warm reviews from some critics and from fans of the original teen novel series by Ann Brashares. The film also helped launch the career of America Ferrera (TV's Ugly Betty). Variety recently confirmed that Warner Bros. is now putting together a sequel to the 2005 film, with an early shooting date planned. The original cast (Ferrera, Amber Tamblyn, Blake Lively, and Alexis Bledel) is currently in talks to return, and set to direct is Sanaa Hamri, who is known for helming music videos by Mariah Carey and Jay-Z, among others; she also made her feature directing debut on the film Something New. The film is being penned by co-writer of the original, Elizabeth Chandler.

The story will be based on the fourth book of Brashare's series (Forever in Blue) and meets up with the four girls, now in their college years, as a pair of jeans sees them through some tough times. Since the girls are growing up, the film is planning on a PG-13 rating this time around -- while still keeping the subject matter family-friendly I'm sure. WB hopes to start shooting on location this June in locations around the world including New York, Turkey, Greece, Providence, and Vermont but WB is apparently willing to accommodate the TV shooting schedules of the principle cast. Ferrera is returning to another season of Ugly Betty, Bledel is apparently going to be coming back for another year of Gilmore Girls, and Tamblyn is working on a drama pilot for CBS. That seems like quite a few schedules to co-ordinate so it might take some time before they can finally agree on a date.

Hey, look -- it's another film about the war in Iraq. It's hard for me to get sarcastic here (Me? Sarcastic?) because I'm sure there are thousands of unbelievable stories to be told, but how about we space them out a little bit? In the last month alone, four different Iraq-related films have cropped up. And I imagine they'll just keep coming until we eventually decide to invade vacation in some other random country.

In saying that, break out the sun-screen and sandals folks -- we're heading back to Iraq. This time, Moroccan director Sanaa Hamri (Something New) will helm Dreams of a Dying Heart for Focus Features. Pic, which sort of reminds me of that whole Jessica Lynch story, revolves around a female chopper pilot who is shot down in Iraq and must race against time to save herself so that she can find a way back to her daughter. Personally, I dig stories about war told from a female perspective and so I can't really complain about this one too much. The script was written by Shawn Otto (House of Sand and Fog). No cast or production schedule was announced.