Despite collaborating to great acclaim on Dogville, Nicole Kidman and Lars Von Trier will no longer work together on the next two instalments of the director's planned USA trilogy.

Because of Kidman's busy schedule, Lars von Trier feels he cannot wait for the Hollywood star and will shoot the films with different actresses playing the role of Grace.

The move comes despite Kidman saying at a Cannes press conference for Dogville that she would star in the remaining films in the trilogy. (Screen Daily, May 20)

"She really wanted to do it, and we really wanted her, but she wouldn't be able to start until October next year and for both financial reasons and because of Lars' many other projects, we just have to stick to our March-April start date," Zentropa producer Vibeke Windeloev told Screen International.

"The Americans might be used to film schedules being set after the availability of the stars, but we just couldn't postpone the shoot until it fitted Nicole's."

All parts have yet to be cast for Manderlay, the next film in the trilogy, which is set in the American south and deals with the issue of slavery, except for long-time collaborator Stellan Skarsgaard.

The writer-director plans to shoot the next two films using the same stage-like technique he used in Dogville.

Among the projects waiting for Trier are his first opera, Wagner's Ring in Bayreuth, which will have its premiere in June 2006 and run until2011.