Robert Downey Jr. and Alan Arkin have come aboard to star in a segment for Steven Soderbergh's
Eros, a movie consisting of short films by Soderbergh, Michelangelo Antonioni and Wong Kar-wai.
According to
Variety, the two actors are shooting the Soderbergh-scripted leg of the film this week. Both were wooed by Soderbergh after the Oscar-winning
Traffic director agreed to sub for Pedro Almodovar in the erotic-themed film.
For Downey, the job comes before he will join Halle Berry and Penelope Cruz in the Mathieu Kassovitz-directed
Gothika at Warner Bros. He's coming off
The Singing Detective, the Icon-produced film bought by Paramount Classics after making its debut at the Sundance Film Festival.
Soderbergh, who last directed
Solaris, is shooting his part of the film while prepping
Ocean's Twelve with his Section Eight partner George Clooney and producer Jerry Weintraub.
They expect to shoot the ensemble drama next February, releasing the film in late 2004. George Nolfi is rewriting his script, which will be set in Europe.