The vacations they took together are nothing but a distant memory. And now Courteney Cox Arquette and Brad Pitt — who haven't spoken since he broke up with her BFF Jennifer Aniston in 2005 — may be on the verge of a bitter professional rivalry as well! No longer content to simply act, Courteney, 42, is making a push to become a powerful actor/producer in the same mold as Brad. "As their companies grow, Brad and Courteney are going to be competing for the same projects," says a source close to Cox. "And believe me, Courteney doesn't plan to lose!"

THE PRODUCERS While it seems that every star these days has some sort of production deal, few have been as successful as Brad Pitt's company, Plan B.

Meanwhile, Courteney's Coquette Productions, which she and husband David Arquette founded in 2004, is trying desperately to play catch-up. They have yet to produce a movie bigger than The Tripper, an indie mock horror movie that David, 35, directed (headed for a limited release in 2007), but their luck may change. Not only has Coquette sold 10 projects, but this coming January their highly anticipated TV show Dirt, a drama starring Cox as a celebrity newsweekly editor, debuts on FX!

"Courteney is very ambitious. I think her ultimate goal is to become another Sherry Lansing," a source says, referring to the first female head of a major studio (she ran Paramount Pictures from 1992 to 2004). "It will be interesting to see the day when she and Brad compete to snag the same film project!"