Katie Holmes is tipped to play celebrity pal Victoria Beckham in a new biopic of soccer superstar David Beckham.

The 27-year-old is good friends with the former Spice girl and said to be delighted at the prospect.

Holmes and her fianc¨¦ Tom Cruise are close friends with the British pair, but while movie bosses were keen to cast the Batman Begins star, Cruise will not be playing Beckham because of their "marked physical differences."

An insider says, "Tom has a brilliant grasp of what the public want to see and thought David's story was wonderful.

"A football star emerges from humble origins, there's drama within the matches and romance in his love affair with Victoria at the height of her pop-star fame.

"At the time Tom was seeing quite a lot of David and Victoria. The quartet are very close friends and the Beckhams would only be happy about their story being used if Tom and Katie were involved."

"Katie is perfect to play the young Posh and is working on her accent. Tom wouldn't play David however, the physical differences are too marked."

Actors being tipped for the footballer's role include Paul Bettany and Jason Statham.