The American Film Institute announced today that the highly anticipated Tom Cruise drama “Lions for Lambs” will be the opening-night film for AFI Fest 2007. Directed by Robert Redford, “Lambs” is the first release under the Paula Wagner / Tom Cruise regime at United Artists. The picture stars Redford, Cruise and Meryl Streep, and is described as a politically charged drama centered around two American soldiers fighting in Afghanistan and a U.S. senator with presidential ambitions (Cruise) who May have a hand in their fates. Streep plays a TV journalist poised to land a major story with the help of the senator. Redford appears as an idealistic college professor who is torn by the choices of two of his former students. “We think it’s an exciting film and an important film,” Wagner, UA’s chief executive, said in a statement released today by AFI. “And this is the perfect way to introduce it to the public.” So far, it’s the only festival selection for “Lambs.” It’s scheduled to be in theaters Nov. 9.

James Bond star Pierce Brosnan will swap guns for Abba songs this month when he begins filming a Hollywood version of the hit musical “Mamma Mia” on the Greek island of Skiathos, the show said Wednesday. The Irish actor’s co-star Meryl Streep May also make an appearance when filming begins there and on the neighbouring island of Skopelos on August 29, a production official was quoted by AFP as saying on condition of anonymity. The film is hoping to recreate the success of the British musical, created in 1999 using songs by hit Swedish band Abba, for the big screen. Actor Tom Hanks is producing the film, due to be screened next year, and the stage musical’s British creator, Phyllida Lloyd, will direct, according to the Hollywood trade press. In anticipation of the stars’ arrival, residents of Skopelos have created a blog, www.skopelos07.wordpress.com, dedicated to the film and to promoting the two islands as tourist destinations.

Meryl Streep will be honored with the 2007 Dana Reeve Hope Award by the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation. The award will be given to her at the “A Magical Evening” benefit on November 12, 2007. The Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation (CDRF) is dedicated to curing spinal cord injury by funding innovative research, and improving the quality of life for people living with paralysis through grants, information and advocacy. Proceeds from A Magical Evening will assist CDRF in fulfilling its goals. For more information, please visit christopherreeve.org.

Actors Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci make William Steig’s characters come alive in the six stories they read on “The One and Only Shrek!” It’s captivating listening. Tucci’s gruffy voice is perfect for the wickedly ugly Shrek, the character who inspired the current movie. And Streep’s sweet voice brings out the lovable side of Pearl in magical story “The Amazing Bone.” Among the four other Steig stories they read is the clever mouse dentist, “Doctor De Soto.” This first-rate audiobook launches Audio Renaissance’s children’s program. For more information, please visit Audiorenaissance.com and williamsteig.com.

According to this source, Meryl Streep will lend her good name, and her physical presence, to Belfast’s Metropolitan Arts Center in an effort to help the establishment make up a £1.2 million funding shortfall. Meryl will be in London filming, and she’s due to arrive in Belfast on August 18, according to media reports. “The importance of the arts to the identity of a society is incalculable. The OMAC has been a clinic for the imaginative good that heals the soul with the healing power of art,” she said in a statement. “This is why OMAC is a cause for celebration and a template for hope.” Streep will be the guest of honor at a gala fundraiser.

“Rendition” has benn announced as one of the gala presentations at the 2007 Toronto Film Festival, which will most likely mark the world premiere of the film. Also, its stars Reese Witherspoon, Jake Gyllenhaal and Meryl Streep have been mentioned to attend the festival. A full schedule will be released in late July, the press release can be read here. The Toronto International Film Festival runs September 06-15.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Amy Adams is in negotiations to star opposite Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman in “Doubt,” John Patrick Shanley’s screen adaptation of his Pulitzer Prize-winning play for Miramax Films and producer Scott Rudin. Adams will play the pivotal role of a young nun in the middle of a tense confrontation in which a Bronx Catholic school principal (Streep) accuses a priest (Hoffman) of pedophilia. Adams received a 2006 best supporting actress Academy Award nomination for her role in Sony Pictures Classics’ “Junebug.”

The Rhode Island Film and TV Office and the Newport International Film Festival have announced a special screening of Focus Features’ Evening during the festival on June 9, 2007 (both closing night screenings of “Evening” have sold out already). “Evening”, which was filmed in Newport, was directed by Lajos Koltai and stars Claire Danes, Toni Collette, Vanessa Redgrave, Patrick Wilson, Hugh Dancy, Natasha Richardson, Mamie Gummer, Eileen Atkins, Meryl Streep, and Glenn Close. Many members of the star-studded cast are expected to attend the screening at the festival, which will be held June 5-10, 2007. Learn more about the Newport Film Festival by visiting their Official Website.

Matt Dillon, Joe Pantaoliano, Lois Smith, Meryl Streep, and Lili Taylor will be among the stars who will perform at Soho Rep’s Spring Gala, to be held at 7pm on Monday, May 14 at 101 Riverviews. The gala will be hosted by Tim Blake Nelson. The actors will perform excerpts from new plays by Will Eno, Nick Flynn, Jenny Schwartz, and Mac Wellman. The evening will also feature the announcement of the first Soho Rep Dorothy Strelsin Playwriting Fellowships. Among the evening’s attendees will be Edward Albee, Olympia Dukakis, Eileen Fulton, and Buck Henry. The gala includes a pre-performance cocktail reception and a post-performance party.

Meryl has received a nomination for the MTV Movie Award as Best Villain for “The Devil Wears Prada”, sharing her category with Bill Nighy (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest), Jack Nicholson (The Departed), Rodrigo Santoro (300) and Tobin Bell (Saw III). “Prada”‘s Emily Blunt has also received two nominations as Best Comedic Performance and Best Breakthrough Role. The winners will be voted by the fans, so you can visit their website here to have your vote casted. The MTV Movie Awards will be handed out on June 03, 2007.