I got this funny email from Mani:

As you may have heard, Freida Pinto will not be attending the Venice Film Festival premiere of the movie ‘Miral’ in which she stars as Rula Jebreal, the Palestinian journalist. Which is too bad, since one had
looked forward to seeing a picture of Freida and the real life Rula together at the premiere, which Rula is also attending. The buzz is that Freida and Rula are total look alike twins.

However, the following picture actually does show them together at Venice, quite by accident. Look closely! I’m really surprised that the photographer missed the obvious coincidence-he/she could have certainly
done a better job of framing and zooming into the two faces in juxtaposition.

Click here to view the pic!

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John Lithgow and Freida Pinto are coming on board “Rise of the Apes,” Fox’s prequel to its “Planet of the Apes” franchise starring James Franco.

Rupert Wyatt will direct the feature, which focuses on a scientist (Franco) who has been working on a cure for Alzheimer’s that is being tested on apes. The test subject named Caesar evolves rapidly, and the scientist takes him home to live with him and protects him from cruel doctors.

Lithgow will play Franco’s Alzheimer’s-stricken father. Pinto is the movie’s female lead, a primatologist.

The movie shoots this summer in British Columbia.

Peter Chernin and Dylan Clark will produce for Chernin Entertainment. Amanda Silver and Rick Jaffa wrote the screenplay and are producing.

Pinto made her acting debut with “Slumdog Millionaire” and is shooting “Immortals,” the Greek gods fantasy directed by Tarsem Singh.

Lithgow is coming off a career-rejuvenating turn as a villainous serial killer in Showtime’s “Dexter,” a role that earned him a Golden Globe. On film, he last appeared this year in the romantic comedy “Leap Year.”

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The Weinstein Co. has snagged North American rights to “Miral,” the Julian Schnabel film toplined by Freida Pinto.

TWC aims to release the pic — which some had expected to bow at Cannes, but now is tipped for an end-of-summer bow at Venice — later this year, but has not set an exact date. Timing seems to suggest an awards push, given the high profile of its creatives and its politically charged subject matter.

Movie revolves around a real-life orphanage established in Jerusalem by Palestinian woman Hind Husseini (played by Hiam Abbass) following the 1948 creation of Israel. In the fictional storyline, the title character (Pinto) is sent to the orphanage in 1978. Later in life, she goes to teach at a refugee camp and falls for an activist.

Movie, which also stars Willem Dafoe and Vanessa Redgrave, is based on the novel by Rula Jebreal, who also penned the screenplay. Palestinian-born scribe is also a well-known broadcast news personality in Italy.

Produced by longtime Schnabel producer Jon Kilik, “Miral” reunites the helmer with the Weinstein brothers, who worked with the helmer on his first film, “Basquiat,” when the duo topped Miramax. “Miral” is the first pickup for TWC in the wake of the company’s reportedly stalled talks to acquire Miramax from Disney.

Pathe, which holds worldwide rights to the pic, has sold the movie in several other international territories.

Harvey Weinstein made the acquisition, in a deal brokered by TWC’s Peter Lawson and Laine Kline and Pathe’s Cameron McCracken and Pierre du Plessis.

“It is the first film I am involved in that shows the ‘other side’ of the Israel-Palestine conflict,” Harvey Weinstein said. “As a staunch supporter of Israel, I thought this would be a movie I would have a hard time wrapping my head around. However, meeting Rula moved me to open my heart and mind and I hope we can do that same with audiences worldwide.”

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Slumdog Millionaire star Freida Pinto has denied that she was approached by director Sam Mendes to play the lead in his next Bond film.

Reports suggest that the 24-year-old actress will not be seen alongside Daniel Craig as she has not been roped in to play the next Bond girl.

Accoring to a report, an official spokesperson in a statement said, “I would like to confirm that as of today, Freida Pinto has not been approached to be part of the next Bond film. It is of course very flattering to even be rumoured to be part of a Bond film but she has certainly not been approached for the role of the next Bond girl opposite Daniel Craig as yet,” he added.

Freida is right now working on her forthcoming projects, Julian Schnabel’s Miral, Woody Allen’s You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger and Tarsem Singh’s Dawn of War.

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Freida Pinto will star in “War of the Gods,” Relativity Media’s Greek mythology clash directed by Tarsem Singh with production set to start in April.

Story follows a young warrior Theseus who leads his men into battle with the immortal Greek gods to defeat evil and the powerful elder gods of the Titans in order to save mankind. The “Slumdog Millionaire” thesp will portray Phaedra, an oracle priestess who must join Theseus — played by Henry Cavill (“The Tudors”) — on his quest to prevent the cataclysmic war from erupting.

“War of Gods” will be produced by Gianni Nunnari of Hollywood Gang Prods., Mark Canton of Atmosphere Entertainment and Relativity topper Ryan Kavanaugh. Nunnari and Canton partnered on 2007′s “300,” producing the sword-and-sandals saga for Warner Bros.

Universal will handle the release. Relativity’s Tucker Tooley and Craig Flores of Hollywood Gang are exec producing.

Jason Keller penned the most recent draft of the script. The original screenplay was written by Charley and Vlas Parlapanides.

Relativity began developing “War of the Gods” when it bought the Parlapanides’ script two years ago — about the same time as Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures started moving ahead on “Clash of the Titans.” Warners has converted “Titans” to 3D and slated it to open April 2 with Louis Leterrier directing and Sam Worthington starring.

Pinto’s upcoming films include Woody Allen’s “You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger,” opposite Josh Brolin and Naomi Watts, and “Miral,” directed by Julian Schnabel in which she plays the title part. Both have completed production.

She’s repped by CAA.

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