Madonna lends voice to new Besson movie

Madonna is making yet another return to the movie business - but this time only her voice will be featured.

The pop superstar, who has received relentless bad reviews for her acting efforts - most recently with Swept Away - will head the voice cast of the big-budget computer-animated Arthur, based on a series of children's books written by French film-maker Luc Besson, who will direct the project.

The $80m (€63.3m) English language project, scheduled for a 2006 release, follows 10-year-old Arthur who, in a bid to save his grandfather's house from developers, goes in search of treasure hidden in the land of the Minimoys, a tiny people living in harmony with nature.

Madonna is understood to be voicing the part of Princess Selenia, a character who travels with Arthur to a mysterious forbidden city where an evil being dwells.

A source says: "The recording is being done at the moment."

Besson's Europa production banner is also in the process of casting a major male star. The film will include some live-action sequences.