Danish maverick Lars von Trier has been so pleased with the results of his highly anticipated new film Dogville, that he has started to write a sequel called Manderlay - in what will be the second part of his planned new ``U.S.A. Trilogy - especially for Nicole Kidman.

Producer Vibeke Windeloev was recently in Los Angeles where she showed an early cut of Dogville to Kidman, who has yet to sign up for the next project, but is very enthusiastic about the idea. Therefore, the shoot of Manderlay will depend on her schedule, but it is expected to be sometime in the autumn of 2003.

Should Kidman decide to take the part, she will also star in the as yet untitled third instalment of what Trier's is calling the U.S.A. trilogy. Because of the director's enthusiasm for the techniques used in Dogville (where all the actors have to be 'on stage' for the whole shoot, as there are no physical walls, only a few props and chalkmarks on the floor), he will repeat them in the next two new films - both of which will be shot on similar $10m budgets.

Dogville, which is set in an American town in the Rocky Mountains in the 1930s, concerns the reception that Kidman's character gets in the small mountain community. Trier previously said that he thought Americans would be interested in seeing his view on their country - and its foreign policy.

The film, which is expected to be ready for Cannes 2003, was inspired by a song by Bertolt Brecht (Surabaya-Johnny), and is the first instalment in the director's second trilogy following his 'Golden-heart' trilogy of Breaking The Waves, The Idiots and Dancer In The Dark. The latter won the Palme d'Or in 2000.

For Dogville, Trier assembled a dream-team of Hollywood legends as well as shining new stars; Lauren Bacall, Ben Gazzara, Philip Baker Hall, Harriet Andersson as well as Chloe Sevigny, Jeremy Davies and the leads Nicole Kidman and Paul Bettany.

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