Peter O'Toole and SamanthaMorton have signed up to head the all-star cast for Charles Sturridge's new Lassie movie, due to shoot later this month in Ireland andthe Isle of Man.

Also helping revive thelegendary franchise are Peter Dinklage (The Station Agent), John Lynch, Jemma Redgrave, Steve Pembridge andGregor Fisher.

Entertainment FilmDistributors will distribute Lassiein the UK (Christmas 2005) and Shochiku have picked up the rights in Japan.

Worldwide sales agentOdyssey has also locked in deals in Taiwan (Applause Entertainment); Turkey(Avsar Film); Benelux (Belga Films); Eastern Europe (Revolutionary Releasing);Portugal (LNK Audiovisuais); France (Metropolitan Filmexport); Middle East(Phars Film); Indonesia (PT Amero); Thailand (Sahamongkol); Iceland (SamFilm);Israel (Shapira Films) and Greece (Village Roadshow).

Lassie will be produced by Element Films' Ed Guiney andFirstight Films' Charles Sturridge and Francesa Barra in conjunction withClassic Media. Charles Sturridgewrote the script, based on Eric Knight's classic 1938 novel Lassie Come Home.