CAUGHT IN SPIDEY'S WEB

Bryce Dallas Howard, star of M. Night Shyamalan's The Village and the soon-to-be-released Manderlay, is in talks to play Gwen Stacy, Peter Parker's new love interest — his first, actually, per the comic books, but that's a long story — in Spider-Man 3, which is scheduled to start shooting this month. Onboard already for the sequel are returnees Kirsten Dunst and James Franco, and Topher Grace and Thomas Haden Church as the baddies. I'm sorry, Topher Grace?! Dude couldn't even swing an axe with my boy Josh Duhamel in Tad Hamilton. Anyway...