The kitty litter has finally settled and official casting has been announced: last year's Best Actress Oscar winner Halle Berry will play the lead in Warner Bros.' "Catwoman" for French filmmaker Pitof ("Vidocq"), reports Variety.

Production is slated to begin later this year. Though Berry's Oscar was for the stark drama "Monster's Ball," the actress, 36, also proved she can hold her own in action flicks, as witnessed by her roles "Die Another Day" (as agent Jinx) and in "X-Men" and its upcoming sequel, "X2" (as Storm).

Michelle Pfeiffer played the villainous Catwoman in an earlier "Batman" movie -- 1992's "Batman Returns" -- while both the leggy Julie Newmar and the sultry Eartha Kitt played her on the '60s TV show.

Originally, Warners (which, like PEOPLE, is part of AOL Time Warner) had cast Ashley Judd for the lead, but she left the project to do a Broadway play -- this fall's revival of Tennessee Williams's "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof." (Expect critics' claws to be out for that one.)

Meanwhile, in other comic-book casting news, the race to find the star of the next "Superman" movie has been narrowed down to "The Mummy" hero Brendan Fraser and "The Guiding Light" star Matthew Bomer, after "The Fast and the Furious" star Paul Walker removed himself from the running, says Variety.

The trade paper reports that Fraser, 34, appears to have the advantage in landing the high-flying role, given his star power.