THURMAN'S ELOISE CO-STAR CAST AFTER LENGTHY SEARCH

A nine-year-old Australian girl has landed the lead role alongside UMA THURMAN in a new movie version of children's tale ELOISE IN PARIS.

Thurman - who will play Nanny in the new adaptation of the famous stories - will be joined by nine-year-old Jordana Beatty, whose only film credit to date is a fleeting appearance in 2006's Superman Returns.

Beatty beat more than 4,000 hopefuls for the role, including Sir Bob Geldof's adopted 11-year-old daughter Tiger Lily - the child of his late ex-wife Paula Yates and her late rocker boyfriend Michael Hutchence.

Eloise tells the tale of a six-year-old girl who lives in New York's Plaza hotel with her nanny. She first appeared in a series of 1950s novels by Kay Thompson.