Very good news for fans of director Christophe Gans. His adaptation of Onimusha has been put on hold thanks to the combined effects of Heath Ledger's death - the production company has a lot of money tied up in Gilliam's Doctor Parnassus, which Ledger's death delayed significantly - and the possible upcoming actors strike. but rather than sulk about it Gans has simply returned home to work on another film with a French production outfit where this things won't be issues for him.

The new project is titled The Swedish Cavalier, an adaptation of a novel set in the 1800's by author Leo Perutz. It's an identity swapping action film revolving around a soldier and an aristocrat and while you can expect Gans to get the period detail right - as he did in Brotherhood of the Wolf - you can also expect him to amp things up a good bit, as proven by the involvement of Matrix producer Andrew Mason. And speaking of Brotherhood, word has just come out that Gans will be reuniting with his Brotherhood star, Vincent Cassel, on this one which is good news indeed.

The company behind this film - La Petite Reine - looks to be an outfit to keep an eye on in general over the next while. Other than this film they've also just done the two part Jacques Mesrine bio-pic project, also starring Cassel, and have new films by Xavier Gens and Louis Leterrier - a "live action animal/reptile gangster movie" - on their upcoming slate.