‘Narnia’ planned for film

Los Angeles — Fresh off the Academy Awards success of “The Lord of the Rings,” another fantasy epic is making its way to the screen.

Walt Disney Studios and Walden Media announced Monday they were co-financing “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” adapted from the second installment of C.S. Lewis’ seven-book fantasy series.

Directed by Andrew Adamson (“Shrek,” “Shrek 2”), the live-action “Narnia” adaptation is scheduled for release around Christmas 2005. Future films in the series could follow.

“The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” follows the adventures of four children transported to a magical land called Narnia.

Oscar romance report

Unlikely couple Scarlett Johansson and Benicio Del Toro were so smitten with each other at a pre-Oscars party that they didn’t care about being spotted “with their arms all over each other,” IMDB.com reports.

Del Toro, who was nominated for a best supporting actor award at Sunday’s ceremony, spent Saturday night canoodling with the 19-year-old actress before the pair retired to the Chateau Marmont hotel in Los Angeles at 3:30 a.m.

A guest said, “They didn’t care who saw them. They walked through the hotel lobby where there were quite a few people hanging about and didn’t seem at all embarrassed to be spotted with their arms all over each other.”

Timberlake shadows journalist

Los Angeles — So what’s Justin Timberlake uncovering now?

Timberlake, who ripped away part of Janet Jackson’s costume at the Super Bowl halftime show, tagged along with Associated Press reporter Bob Porterfield last week to get a taste for journalism.

The Grammy-winning singer will play a reporter who uncovers an elite team of corrupt police in the upcoming film “Edison,” starring Kevin Spacey, Morgan Freeman and LL Cool J. Shooting is expected to begin in Canada in the coming weeks.

Porterfield, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner who teaches graduate-school journalism, was impressed. “I thought he was sharp. He seemed attentive and interested in learning this stuff. He has a real interest in developing his part. He took quite a few notes.”

Roy Horn walking again

Five months after he was mauled by a tiger, illusionist Roy Horn of Siegfried & Roy was able to walk again with the help of a wheeled walking aid, reports The Associated Press.

Horn, 59, managed to walk 558 paces last week with the assistance of the device, spokeswoman Claudia Dressler said from Munich, Germany, adding that Horn has “strong willpower” and is training intensively.

Horn was mauled by a 300-pound white tiger Oct. 3 during his stage act in Las Vegas. The tiger attacked Horn during a sold-out performance at The Mirage hotel-casino.

Horn’s partner is German-born magician Siegfried Fischbacher.