Here's the latest on what's going on in Hollywood:

United Artists and Lakeshore Entertainment have set "24" co-creator-executive producer Joel Surnow to develop a contemporary spy thriller that will be directed by Casino Royale helmer Martin Campbell, reports Variety.

Surnow will write the film with Michael Loceff, a "24" co-executive producer. Lakeshore's Gary Lucchesi and Tom Rosenberg will produce.

"This is an original concept that both UA and I feel will have an impact creatively and commercially," Surnow said.

Campbell will next direct Edge of Darkness, a drama starring Mel Gibson.

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Writer Michael Cunningham (The Hours) told New York Magazine that Nicole Kidman will play English pop singer Dusty Springfield in a biopic.

"She was a great artist who no one knew what to do with," Cunningham said. "She was coming into her full powers at the same time the Beatles were," he said, adding that she suddenly found herself the purveyor of a dying torchy genre. "But she is clearly going into history with the Beatles and the Rolling Stones."

Cunningham said the film would include the lonely years in exile from the U.K. in Hollywood, the drinking and the drugging, and the tortured bisexual/lesbian feelings that wove through her checkered career, which ended when she died of cancer in 1999.

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America Ferrera ("Ugly Betty") has signed on to star in An Invisible Sign of My Own, a coming-of-age drama that will also mark Marilyn Agrelo's first directorial effort since her breakout documentary Mad Hot Ballroom.

The Hollywood Reporter says that the movie, expected to begin shooting shortly, is based on Aimee Bender's quirky novel about a 20-year-old loner named Mona Gray (Ferrera) who as a child turned to math for salvation after her father became ill. As an adult, Gray now teaches the subject and must help her students through their own crises.

The Wedding Planner screenwriters Michael Ellis and Pamela Falk penned the screenplay.

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The Hollywood Reporter says Miramax has signed on to remake the Israeli thriller The Debt, acquiring a spec script from Guy Ritchie collaborator and Layer Cake director Matthew Vaughn and Vaughn's writing partner Jane Goldman.

The Debt revolves around three Mossad agents who, 20 years after World War II's end, learn that a Nazi war criminal is still alive and set out to pursue him across Europe. Assaf Bernstein directed the 2007 Israeli film, titled HaHov, which like the remake is set in the 1960s and 1990s. The Israeli movie was not released stateside.

Vaughn and Ritchie have worked together on a number of films, with Vaughn also producing Ritchie's crossover hit Snatch.

Vaughn is not expected to helm "Debt"; a number of directors are said to be circling the project.

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Demian Lichtenstein is set to direct 3-D action feature Relentless for Baldwin Entertainment, says Variety.

The $25 million movie will star Kiwi actor Karl Urban. It will shoot this September in Puerto Rico, produced by Eric Mitchell.

It's the story of four extreme sports professionals who survive a plane crash in the Amazon jungle, and must use all their survival instincts as they are hunted by a group of homicidal natives.

Lichtenstein, best known for directing 3000 Miles to Graceland, has been shadowing James Cameron on Avatar, and has been trained in 3-D techniques by James Mainard and Phil McNally of DreamWorks.

"I am fascinated with the new 3-D technology and know that this script is a perfect match to take advantage of the unlimited potential of what 3-D can do," Lichtenstein said. "After being mentored by James Cameron on the set of his new 3-D film 'Avatar,' I knew that 3-D movies are no longer just a fad. It is the future of filmmaking."

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Lionsgate is launching development of crime thriller Pencilneck, setting up the indie comic book miniseries with Chris Bender and JC Spink at Benderspink.

Pencilneck centers on a mild-mannered banker who, in order to save his criminal brother, is forced by the mob to help them rob his employer. When the heist goes awry and the banker is taken hostage, he snaps and goes on a rampage.

Benderspink recently acquired the rights to "Pencilneck," created by Victor Carungi and published by his own Paper Street Comics.