Film: Rushes

YOU DON'T need a calculator for sequel economics: they almost always cost more than the original, and usually take in less at the box- office. And with the news that author Thomas Harris has just completed a sequel to Silence of the Lambs, the accountants at Universal Pictures will be busy trying to see how a lucrative sequel to Hannibal Lecter's 1991 screen outing can be put together. Just in case Universal hadn't got round to the awful truth, the Los Angeles Times did the sums for them last week. The paper reckoned Harris will command a seven-figure sum for the screen rights, and Demme a similar amount to direct once again, not to mention the $15m each Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster might pick up for reprising their roles.

With production budget, marketing and reasonable overspend margins, Universal can expect to splash out $100m on a sequel. Demme's multiple Oscar winner cost around $22m to make and grossed six times that in the USA. Go figure.

WHILE EWAN McGregor piles on the column inches with tales of his Jedi exploits, it may have escaped his attention that Rogue Trader, the Nick Leeson biopic in which McGregor plays the nemesis of Barings bank, has finally got a release. On cable telly.