By far, one of my absolute favorite movies is Stephen Frear's adaptation of Dangerous Liaisons. So, you can imagine that my expectations will be pretty high for Frears' latest French period piece, Cheri. The Hollywood Reporter announced that Rupert Friend (The Young Victoria) and Kathy Bates have joined the cast of Frears' take on the book by famed French novelist Collette. Friend will play the male lead, and Bates is in negotiations to play his overbearing "maman".

Originally published in 1920, Chéri was the story of an affair between an aging retired courtesan, Léa, and a pampered young man, Chéri. When it comes time for Chéri to make good on the promise of an arranged marriage, he is forced into a loveless union and then I would assume it's your usual array of romantic suffering. I mean, just look at the guy, he's got that 'romantic squint' down pat.

Just last month, Michelle Pfeiffer signed to play the aging courtesan and Friend's love interest, Lea de Lonval. Frears also wrote the adaptation with Liaisons screen writer, Christopher Hampton, which means it really is a Dangerous Liaisons reunion (if only they could have gotten Uma Thurman, Glen Close, and John Malkovich; making it the complete set). Now that all the distribution deals between Pathé and Miramax have been sorted out Cheri is ready to start production in France early this April.

To some, she's the florist who stole away Piper Perabo, while to others, she's Queen Gorgo, or one tough Sarah Connor. For the latter group, Lena Headey has got another dark piece of cinema on the way, one that deals with death and necromancy. The Hollywood Reporter has posted that Headey, Sean Bean, and Rupert Friend will start in Geoff Sax's (White Noise) supernatural chiller, Black Death. The film will focus on brothers in "an apocalyptic medieval world" who try to find a necromancer during the first outbreak of the bubonic plague in England.

Continuing with her power roles, THR says that Headey will play the dark village ruler, Bean will take on the role of a mercenary priest in the village, and Friend will be a young monk investigating rumors of people being brought back to life. "Against the backdrop of the peaceful village lies a pact with the forces of darkness, orchestrated by the village ruler." I have this feeling, somehow, that there won't be any jovial "I'm not dead!" sort of scenes.

Sax will direct from Dario Poloni's script and says that it is a "highly original screenplay" that has "edgy characters, thought-provoking material, and kinetic action scenes." Now, this is where the confusion comes in. There is already a Black Death film listed for next year on IMDb, which has the following plot summary: "Amanda, a middle-aged woman with the help of a psychiatrist, is drawn into a web of past and present horror as they try to find the link between her sister's mysterious mental illness and an age-old curse involving the Black Plague." Keep your eye out -- I imagine there will be a name change on the way. Gotta love dueling features.

"Do you have Prince Albert in a film can?" That's a question director Jean-Marc Vallée may be asked soon, and if he doesn't understand it's all a bad joke, he might give a literal answer like, "yes, and he's played by Rupert Friend." The casting is for Vallée's The Young Victoria, a film about the 19th century Queen and her first cousin/husband, Albert, whose name is better known these days for the awful practical joke and the awful body piercing (the former is not named for him; the latter allegedly might be). Friend, who is himself best known these days for his roles in Pride & Prejudice and The Libertine, joins Emily Blunt, who had previously been cast in the title role.

The royal biopic is not expected to hit theaters for another two years (though I think it will be pushed up), in which time you may become even more familiar with Friend, who won the 2005 British Independent Film Award for Most Promising Newcomer. According to the IMDb, the actor has no less than eight movies that could come out in the U.S. before 2009 (some have already been released elsewhere and/or have been shown at festivals). Also in the cast is Mark Strong (Syriana), who seems to be playing Sir John Conroy, a man rumored to have been Queen Victoria's real father.

The Young Victoria begins filming next month in the UK. It was scripted by Oscar winner Julian Fellowes (Gosford Park) and is being produced by Martin Scorsese, Graham King (The Departed), Tim Headington and Sarah Ferguson (aka HRH The Duchess of York). So, yeah: a man named King and a real-life Duchess are producing a historical movie about a Queen and a Prince. I don't believe it possible that such a team could screw this up.