SCARLETT JOHANSSON - JOHANSSON BEGINS WEAPONS TRAINING

SCARLETT JOHANSSON is already undergoing intensive weapons training ahead of her role in action sequel MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE III - even though shooting has been postponed until September (05).

Cameras were due to start rolling on the movie this year (04), but TOM CRUISE's commitment to STEVEN SPIELBERG's WAR OF THE WORLDS remake and script alterations have forced film chiefs to push back the start date.

But sexy Johansson is delighted the delay means she has more time to practice with firearms.

She says, "It's been postponed 'til September while it's rewritten. But I'm doing weapons training for it! Just pulling the trigger is easy enough, but when you're loading your magazine and you have a machine gun and a handgun and a shotgun, and you're trying to figure out how to use them all.

"I'm being trained by someone who was in the special forces, so I get to know interesting stuff like how they train the Iraqi army."