According to Variety, Meryl Streep is purring over “Dewey,” a fact-based film about a stray cat’s impact on the town of Spencer, Iowa. The project has landed at New Line Cinema. Streep is attached to star in the adaptation of the Vicki Myron book “Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World.” Pamela Gray will pen the script. Streep intends to play the author, who works at the library and observed the impact that a kitten had on the townsfolk once it became the library mascot after wandering in through the after-hours book return slot on a cold night.Temple Hill Entertainment partners Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey are setting the film at New Line, where the duo have a first-look deal. Bowen and Godfrey will produce, and IPG’s Jerry Kalajian and Temple Hill’s Pete Harris will be involved in producing capacities.

The film has made £66,995,224 in the UK, beating Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Casino Royale moves down a place to number three with the top 10 completed by other Harry films, The Full Monty, Bridget Jones’ Diary and Love Actually. Worldwide, the film is already one of the most profitable movies ever, recently crossing the $500m box office mark. The film, based on the 1975 ABBA hit song and the musical stage play, stars Meryl Streep, Colin Firth and Pierce Brosnan. Universal Pictures International president David Kosse told The Hollywood Reporter: “Since its release in July we’ve seen people around the world coming back to see the film again and again.” Last month it was reported that the financial crisis had resulted in the best summer cinema attendance in almost 40 years. Mamma Mia! was widely credited with helping make it the best for British cinema admissions since 1972. “Mamma Mia! has really tapped into the public’s desire for feelgood escapism. An absolute phenomenon.”

“Doubt,” John Patrick Shanley’s adaptation of his Broadway play starring Philip Seymour Hoffman and Meryl Streep, has been drafted to serve as the opening-night film of AFI Fest 2008, screening Thursday at ArcLight Hollywood’s Cinerama Dome. It replaces “The Soloist,” which was pulled when its release was postponed until March 13. The festival will screen an unfinished version of “Doubt,” which opens theatrically Dec. 12. “The movie is still being finished, but we were so excited to show ‘Doubt’ and help our friends at AFI Fest and the American Film Institute at the same time. We couldn’t possibly pass up the opportunity,” Miramax president Daniel Battsek said. “We are grateful to Miramax Films and producers Scott Rudin and Mark Roybal for providing AFI the honor of premiering this highly anticipated, unfinished version of ‘Doubt.’ There is no doubt that bringing together Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams in concert with the extraordinary talents of writer-director John Patrick Shanley promises an evening that will celebrate the finest in American film,” AFI Fest artistic director Rose Kuo said. AFI Fest runs Thursday through Nov. 9.

Meryl Streep and Antonio Banderas will receive Donostia lifetime achievement awards at the 56th San Sebastian International Film Festival, organizers announced Friday as they revealed the remaining details of this year’s event. Spanish homeboy Banderas will pick up his award on Sept. 19, one night after presenting the European premiere of Richard Eyre’s “The Other Man” at the opening night ceremony. The festival will honor Streep Sept. 26. for her prolific and talented career as “the best modern actress,” saying “it is almost impossible to speak of her without resorting to superlatives.” San Sebastian runs Sept. 18-27 in Spain’s northern Basque region.

“A Celebration of Maurice Sendak” will be presented Sept. 15 at the 92nd Street Y as part of the East Side venue’s Reading Series. Among those scheduled to be part of Sendak’s 80th birthday celebration are Tony Kushner, Meryl Streep, James Gandolfini, Dave Eggers, Spike Jonze, Linda Emond, Catherine Keener, Anika Noni Rose and Stephen Greenblatt. Show time is 8 PM. Maurice Sendak is the author and/or illustrator of more than 90 books, including “Where the Wild Things Are,” “Higglety Pigglety Pop!” and “In the Night Kitchen.” He has also collaborated on several operas and ballets; in fact, he and Tony winner Kushner joined forces in 2006 for a one-act operatic adaptation of Sendak’s “Brundibar.”

Jennifer Aniston, Scarlett Johansson and Charlize Theron are among the A-listers who signed on for the Stand Up To Cancer telethon in September. American Idol David Cook, Christina Applegate, Meryl Streep and Sally Field also will appear on the Sept. 5 broadcast, which will be simultaneously aired on ABC, CBS and NBC to raise money for cancer research and treatment. Dozens of other celebrities and sports figures will also be appearing on the program, according to Stand Up To Cancer.

Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and Glenn Close are among the actors who will help the Public Theater honor Tony-nominated scenic designer David Rockwell at the 2008 Summer Gala on June 17. A host of artists will attend the evening in Rockwell’s honor, including Streep, Baldwin and Close as well as Cynthia Nixon, Sam Rockwell, Kathleen Turner, Neil Patrick Harris, Jane Krakowski, Julianna Margulies, Nora Ephron and S. Epatha Merkerson. Additional names will be added in the coming weeks. The 2008 Summer Gala commences at 5:30 PM with a buffet dinner in Central Park, followed by the 8 PM opening-night performance of the Shakespeare in the Park Hamlet – starring Michael Stuhlbarg and Sam Waterston – and will conclude with a cast party at Belvedere Castle overlooking Turtle Pond and the Delacorte. More details can be found here.

Led by Meryl Streep, a host of celebrities and public figures will read their favorite poems by some of America’s best-loved poets on April 1. The 6th annual Poetry & The Creative Mind will feature Candace Bushnell, Robert Caro, Graydon Carter, Katie Couric, Philippe de Montebello, Jonathan Demme, John Guare, Dianne Reeves and Liz Smith. The evening is titled “Poetry & The Creative Mind” and proceeds benefit the Academy of American Poets, one of the premiere literary nonprofit organizations in the country. “Poetry & The Creative Mind has become one of the most anticipated literary events in New York City,” said Tree Swenson, the Academy’s Executive Director. Swenson added, “The event also resonates with lovers of film, theatre, art, music, and dance.”

A documentary on the making of 2006’s production of The Public Theater’s “Mother Courage”, starring Meryl Streep, will be premiering at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival. In “Theater of War”, a documentary on the making of a play, we see the most celebrated actress in the world, Meryl Streep, prepare for one of the most challenging performances of her career. She collaborates with Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Tony Kushner (Angels In America), and Academy Award nominated actor Kevin Kline on the adaptation of Bertolt Brecht’s landmark anti-war play Mother Courage. Through her process and the staging of the play, we understand the influence Brecht’s craft as elaborated on by these enormous talents. Directed by John Walter (How To Draw A Bunny, My Kid Could Paint That). No screening dates have been announced yet.

Stars from the stage and screen versions of Mamma Mia! are to be featured in an edition of The South Bank Show. Julie Walters, Colin Firth and Meryl Streep – who star in the film version due for release in July – are among some of the names lined up to appear in the programme. It will also contain interviews with Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson from ABBA and behind the scenes footage of a new opening of the production in Europe. There will also be contributions from the creative team behind the show. An exact airdate is not yet given.