She may be a footloose and free "singleton" these days, but Nicole Kidman is soon to return to the big screen as a high-profile spouse. The flame-haired actress has signed up for the remake of 1975 cult classic The Stepford Wives.
The original flick was a dark thriller focused on a group of go-getting suburban women who are suddenly transformed into robots who delight in catering to their husbands' every whim. Nicole plays Joanna Eberhart, a newcomer to the neighbourhood who realises there's something strange going on when the other housewives she meets only seem interested in housework and dreaming up new ways to please their husbands.
The new version, from Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Bowfinger's Frank Oz, will be a sophisticated black comedy featuring dramatic special effects as the women are turned into perfect wives.
Nicole is also considering another reprise part, in a movie version of the classic Sixties TV show Bewitched. Although she has yet to formally commit to the project, The Others star has said she's keen to take on the role of the nose-twitching suburban witch Samantha Stephens.
If she does, it will be an inspired piece of casting as she bears an uncanny resemblance to Elizabeth Montgomery, the actress who played Samantha in the original TV series. Mike Myers and Jim Carrey are said to be the studio's top choices for the role of Darrin, Samantha's advertising executive husband.
The actress's next screen outing is The Hours, in which she plays novelist Virginia Wolfe alongside Julianne Moore and Meryl Streep. The movie is out on December 27 in the US and on Valentine's Day 2003 in the UK.
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