Heavily pregnant actress Angelina Jolie has enlisted the royal help of Prince Charles to help promote awareness of the current crisis in Sudan.

A friend of Jolie’s told the Daily Express: "Angie has been in touch with the Prince several times by phone in the past year about the situation. He has shown great concern over what is going on and promised to do what he can.

"Charles knows how passionate she is about the issues that seem to have slipped the attention of most, having met her last year at a Un Children's Fund function.

"He was apparently very impressed by Angie's drive, her compassion for the less fortunate and her honest desire to do something about the problem."

Jolie has also asked for help from George Clooney and Nelson Mandela to help stabilise the Dafur region of Sudan and promote peace in the ravaged country.

The talking car K.I.T.T. is heading to the big screen in an adaptation of the hit 1980s TV series "Knight Rider."

Series creator Glen A. Larson will write and executive produce the Weinstein Co. project, which he anticipates will begin production next year. The project had previously been in development at Sony-based Revolution Studios.

Larson has bandied about the project for years. "A number of people wanted to do a pure comedic send-up of it, but I always felt that would throw away the franchise," he said. "There was always some humor on the show, but this film will probably have more gallows, foxhole humor.

Despite the darker tone, he said he would aim for a PG-13 rating because he doesn't want to exclude the series' core audience. The show ran on NBC from 1982-86.

The story centers on the tale of a police investigator shot in the line of duty who is nursed back to health by a mysterious millionaire. He's given a new name (Michael Knight), a new face and a new car to help him continue his work. As in the pilot, he also seeks revenge on the criminals who left him for dead.

Larson wouldn't say whether David Hasselhoff, who starred in the series, would appear in a cameo or if William Daniels would reprise his role as the voice of K.I.T.T.

Other Larson TV series being developed as film adaptations include "Magnum, P.I." at Imagine Entertainment and "The Fall Guy" at Warner Bros. Pictures.

The director of the upcoming religious thriller "The Da Vinci Code" says he sees no need for a disclaimer labeling the film a work of fiction -- provoking a rebuke on Monday from Catholic group Opus Dei.

Filmmaker Ron Howard has acknowledged the controversy renewed by his film of Dan Brown's best-selling novel, which depicts Opus Dei as a shadowy sect at the heart of a murderous conspiracy to conceal dark secrets of the early Christian Church.

But the Oscar-winning director of "A Beautiful Mind" rejected the notion that his latest film should carry a disclaimer -- as requested by Opus Dei -- stating what he said was already obvious. (Watch the "Da Vinci"-Vatican smackdown -- 3:14)

"This is a work of fiction that presents a set of characters that are affected by these conspiracy theories and ideas," Howard told the Los Angeles Times on Sunday. "Those characters in this work of fiction act and react on that premise. It's not theology. It's not history. To start off with a disclaimer ... spy thrillers don't start off with disclaimers."

BRITNEY SPEARS has laughed off reports she is vying to play JANIS JOPLIN in an upcoming film on the tragic singer. Spears was one of the big names, including LINDSAY LOHAN and SCARLETT JOHANSSON, tipped to play the ME AND BOBBY MCGEE hitmaker in PENELOPE SPHEERIS' biopic THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JANIS. Spears' chart rival PINK - who was Spheeris' first choice to play the sixties singer - dropped out of the casting race last month (APR06), accusing film-makers of turning the process into a "circus".

When asked about the film, Spears says, "No I'm not going to play Janis. "