20 MAY 2003
Titanic star Kate Winslet is to follow in the footsteps of Catherine Zeta-Jones and Nicole Kidman by starring in a big screen musical. The 27-year-old has signed up opposite James Gandolfini in the all-singing, all-dancing production Romance And Cigarettes.

Kate and her co-star, better known as New Jersey gangster Tony Soprano, will be joining forces with Susan Sarandon in the new flick, which is being billed as "savage, passionate and darkly comic".

The film will be directed by renowned character actor John Turturro, who has appeared in such films as Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?, Barton Fink and Anger Management. His old friends The Coen Brothers are meanwhile producing the movie, which tells the story of one man's experience with infidelity and redemption.

Kate has never appeared in a musical before, but she has shown off her singing talents on more than one occasion. She provided the voice for a character in cartoon version of A Christmas Carol in 2001. And she also featured on a single that was released from the soundtrack.