The Mask of Zorro sealed Zeta Jones' star status

Reports claimed the package covered a range of film genres from musicals to comedies, including a sequel to The Mask of Zorro.

They also said the nine-film handshake was conditional upon Zeta Jones not becoming pregnant for three years.

Zeta Jones has a 16-month-old son Dylan with her husband, actor Michael Douglas.

The couple, who married in November 2000, have said that they would like to have three children.

Elite

The deal would have made Zeta Jones the highest paid British actress.

It would also have placed her not far behind Hollywood's highest paid female star Julia Roberts, who earns �12.5m per film.

Husband Michael Douglas is the son of the screen veteran Kirk

But the highest paid British actress is still currently thought to be Jane Leeves, who plays Daphne in Frasier.

Leeves is said to have recently agreed a deal of �20m for three more years on the US sitcom.

Regardless of the denied deal Zeta Jones has still come a long way in a short time and achieved an impressive degree of celebrity status.

Born in Mumbles, south Wales, Zeta Jones has gone from British TV star as Mariette in The Darling Buds of May, to one of Hollywood's elite.

Her husband is the son of movie legend Kirk Douglas.

She has also landed a series of high profile movies, co-starring with big name stars, such as Entrapment with Sean Connery.

In 2000, Zeta Jones starred in the highly acclaimed Traffic.

Intolerable Cruelty will see Zeta Jones as a gold-digger who marries a Beverly Hills lawyer but with her eyes firmly fixed on a profitable divorce.