Fresh from his appearance on stage in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest in London's West End, actor Christian Slater is joining the cast of BBC Radio 4's new series of The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy. Slater, 35, will play John Watson, aka Wonko the Sane. The new series, which begins on May 3, are adapted from Douglas Adams's final two books in the franchise, Goodbye And Thanks For All The Fish and Mostly Harmless. The Hollywood film adaptation of the original book, which stars Martin Freeman as Arthur Dent, has its premiere tonight.
Sir Ian McKellen and Alfred Molina are joining the cast of The Da Vinci Code, Ron Howard's upcoming film adaptation of the Dan Brown bestseller. Molina, best known as Doc Octopus in Spider-Man 2, will play Bishop Arigarosa, who's keenly interested in the sleuthing activities of Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon (played by Tom Hanks) and cryptographer Sophie Neveu (Audrey Tautou). McKellen will play Sir Teabing, a wealthy man who acts as a resource for Langdon. The Da Vinci Code begins production in June for a May 2006 release.
Amanda Peet, currently seen in Woody Allen's Melinda and Melinda, has signed to star opposite John Cusack in The Martian Child, which centres on a man who adopts a seven-year-old boy who believes he's from Mars. Also joining the cast is Cusack's sister Joan, who will play - surprise, surprise - his sib
