Katie Holmes is now Anna Paquin's on-screen maid of honor

Katie Holmes is smartly growing her locks long again as she attempts to restart her big screen career with comedic roles like the lead in "The Romantics."

Credit: AP Photo/Matt Sayles

Unemployment is tough all around these days.  So much so that it's even being felt in typically sunny Hollywood.  Very few studio films are shooting at the moment that one particular indie film has been able to line up a surprisingly stellar cast of notable actors at bargain basement prices. "True Blood's" Anna Paquin, Josh Duhamel, Malin Akerman, Elijah Wood, Adam Brody and Jeremy Strong were already on board the new comedy, but now Variety reports Katie Holmes has become a last minute replacement as the lead of "The Romantics."

Holmes will step in for Liv Tyler who has left the production for undisclosed reasons (your guess is as good as ours).  The indie centers on eight college friends who reunite for a wedding with Holmes as the maid of honor to Paquin's bride.  A romantic triangle figures in the storyline as both ladies have slept with the groom (Duhamel) in a project that appears to have the trappings of a modern day farce.

No doubt having something to do with  a little bit of creative financing, Holmes will receive an executive producer credit on the flick (which usually means more backend money if it's a hit).

In a rarity, the flick will be directed by Galt Niederhoffer who adapted her own screenplay for the novel.

Mrs. Tom Cruise has been quite busy lately getting her career back in order after the disastrous "Mad Money" bombed in 2008.  She spent last fall on Broadway in a revival of Arthur Miller's "All My Sons" and shot the Miramax  thriller "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" opposite Guy Pierce in Australia.

"The Romantics" will begin shooting this week in New York City.