This is the most official-lookin' thing I can find on the subject. Source quoted at the bottom of article.

Jessica Emerges As Favourite For Daisy Duke Role

2/27/2004

Britney Spears' hopes of playing Daisy Duke in the movie version of classic TV series Dukes of Hazzard have been seriously jeopardized - by fellow pop beauty Jessica Simpson.

The sexy character, originally played by Catherine Bach, aroused the attention of hordes of fans with eye-catching hot pants and stomach-baring tied shirts.

And now Simpson has emerged as the clear frontrunner in the race for the role, after meeting with bosses at film studio WAarner Brothers a few weeks ago.

Producer Bill Gerber, who describes Simpson as "delightful", coos, "She's young, moral, bright, gorgeous and southern - everything that Daisy is."

But the deal has yet to be sealed - Spears, Mandy Moore and Jessica Biel are also being mentioned for the part.

ASshton Kutcher and Paul Walker are current favorites to play Bo and Luke Duke, but no moves will be made until a director comes on board, which is expected to be in a matter of weeks."

Copyright ©2004 TeenHollywood.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Bright? I may have the wrong girl here but....isn't Simpson the chick that didn't know what "Chicken of the Sea" is? ROFLMAO.

Moral? Since when did modern Hollywood care about morals and moral people??

I can just tell I'm gonna have a ball tearing the production of his movie apart. ROFL.

Brian & MaryAnne,

I think that Jessica Simpson is a much better prospect for the roll of

Daisy Duke. If Spears gets the part I'm gonna literaly puke, i just dont

like the idea of her being Daisy. Ashtun and Paul sound alright to play

Bo and Luke though.

I got an idea why dont WB sought out John and Toms kids in real life and

let them take the parts that John and Tom once played. Then simple fill

in the other parts with people who are not celebrities.

Just a thought.

Of all the names listed above in the deal...I would highly rather they chose Jessica Biel for the part. I don't know how many of you all has seen an episode or the show of "Seventh Heaven" but Jessica Biel is the actress that plays Mary Camden. The older sister in the family...the one that got into a lot of trouble during the middle half of the season on or so. I think Biel did a great and believeable job as playing Mary and think she would do a much better job at being Daisy than the other two mentioned.

Then again that is only my opinion...

Man, I don't know what to think. I found info pointing to Jessica Simpson bein' the most-likely Daisy Duke...and then the next thing I read is giving Britney Spears billing for the role.

At this point, I'll just be happy if they use a Dodge Charger to play the General Lee. Wouldn't surprise me if they used a "Fast and Furious" suped-up Honda and painted it orange, considerin' the casting so far.

Jessica Simpson on Her Possible Film Slate Source: MTV Friday, March 5, 2004

MTV talked to "Newlyweds" star Jessica Simpson about the possibility she'll star in the big screen adaptations of The Dukes of Hazzard, I Dream of Jeannie and Marvel's Mort, the Dead Teenager.

Simpson is first seeing if she can squeeze into Catherine Bach's hot pants in the movie remake of "Dukes of Hazzard." Ashton Kutcher and Paul Walker are currently favorites to play Bo and Luke Duke, says the channel "I would love to be Daisy Duke," Simpson said. "I think that would be so much fun, just to wear the shorts. I would get to have my own car. I think it would be a blast."

Simpson recently met with producer Bill Gerber to discuss taking a part in the TV show adaptation. "The meeting just went really, really great, so we'll see. 'I Dream of Jeannie' is a little further behind, so the 'Dukes' will be first to go. I honestly don't know when I'll find out, but they start shooting in May or June, so let's keep our fingers crossed."

(Note, there was more to this article, but the rest was unrelated to the Dukes movie project, so I edited for pertinent content. Fancy way of sayin', I'm too lazy to paste the whole thing. )

Per all the dirt I've been able to dig, Jessica Simpson seems to have the Daisy Duke role all stitched up. There's been no official confirmation of this from WB, but I have a feeling it's because they're trying to find some other project to stuff Britney Spears into as a consolation prize.

More on the Hazzard Catfight in the Britney vs. Jessica topic.

Brian