The Woods: Bryce Dallas Howard, daughter of Oscar-winning director Ron Howard, has signed on to make her feature film debut with a starring role in director M. Night Shyamalan's The Woods, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Set in Pennsylvania during 1897, The Woods revolves around a close-knit community that lives with the frightening knowledge that a mythical race of creatures resides in the woods around them. Joaquin Phoenix and Ashton Kutcher will star alongside Bryce Dallas Howard, respectively.

Kirsten Dunst previously had the offer for the role and was in talks to star. Instead, she has turned her attention to Elizabethtown, a project written and to be directed by Cameron Crowe Jerry Maguire, Almost Famous, Vanilla Sky. A domestic distributor is expected to be found shortly for the Crowe project, with production beginning in first quarter 2004.