Superstars EWAN MCGREGOR and KATE WINSLET have signed up for the new JIM SHERIDAN movie EAST OF HARLEM - at a knockdown fee.

The pair will play a young Irish couple struggling to survive in America during the country's great depression. The award-winning MY LEFT FOOT director plans to begin filming the epic early next year (01). And it is believed the pair were so keen to star in the movie, they both agreed to a fee that is little more than the minimum union rate.

Sources close to Sheridan say he wants the bulk of the budget to be seen by audiences on the screen. Stars will ultimately be paid a percentage, depending on how it fares at the box office.(RXT/ISM/NFA)