Romijn-Stamos in Noir Film

While Romijn-Stamos made a showy debut as the chameleonic assassin Mystique in the Bryan Singer-directed hit film ''X-Men,'' and followed that by playing the female lead in the John McTiernan-directed remake of ``Rollerball'' for MGM, her casting was considered a surprise, because actresses with more seasoning read for the role with De Palma.

The director was looking for a heartbreaking bombshell on the order of a Rita Hayworth for the film, a drama about a woman who tries to outrun a past life as a con woman, only to have her past turn up like a bad penny. Banderas plays a paparazzo.

Sources said that after Romijn-Stamos flew to France to meet with De Palma, negotiations proceeded quickly with her reps at William Morris and 3 Arts. De Palma is planning to tailor the script to suit the actress.

Aside from ``Rollerball,'' which opens in August, Romijn-Stamos will be seen as the computer-generated heroine in ''Simone,'' the Andrew Niccol-directed New Line film that stars Al Pacino.

And since her villainous Mystique character was only wounded in ``X-Men,'' there's a good chance she'll be returning for another go-around in the sequel being developed by Fox.