Rival Capote Films Do Battle

Philip Seymour Hoffman and British actor Toby Jones are set to do battle on the big screen as gay writer Capote">Truman Capote in rival projects.

Both films, in development at UNITED ARTISTS and WARNER INDEPENDENT studios, are set for release next year (05), and both will follow Capote's efforts to capture the story of a real-life family slaying.

Hoffman's United Artists film, directed by Bennett Miller, has nudged ahead in the release race, according to American magazine Entertainment Weekly, as it began shooting at the end of last month (OCT04).

CAPOTE will also star Catherine Keener and OSCAR winner Chris Cooper.

The rival film, TRUE, features Gwyneth Paltrow as singer PEGGY LEE, ashley JUDD and Sandra Bullock, but shooting has been held up while director DOUGLAS McGRATH searched for his Capote.

Mark Wahlberg, Johnny Depp and Sean Penn are among the actors who reportedly passed on the project, leaving Capote lookalike Jones in the starring role.