Race is on to bring Alexander the Great to big screen

The battle is on to bring Alexander the Great to the screen ...with two star-studded films racing for the tape.

And already it looks like the Colin Farrell-Anthony Hopkins' version from Oliver Stone will beat out the Nicole Kidman-Leonardo DiCaprio version by director Baz Luhrmann.

Dino De Laurentis, producer of the latter version, has jotted down late 2005 as a release date but Stone is working to have his epic about the great General.

"He was a complex character, his legend is one of the most compelling stories in human history," says Kidman, speaking for all - ready for 2004.