Brittany's Betrothal Interrupted

[Rhiannon]

Time for Brittany Murphy to dust off her little black book.

The Just Married star, well, won't be anytime soon, having broken off her engagement to her production assistant fiance, Joe Macaluso.

A rep for Murphy told People magazine that the twosome has "amicably ended their engagement. They remain close friends and wish each other much happiness."

The 28-year-old screen star first met Macaluso when filming the 2004 romantic comedy Little Black Book, for which her ex-betrothed worked as a best boy grip. The duo started dating after filming wrapped on the flick.

The couple announced their engagement earlier this year, with Macaluso popping the question on New Year's Eve. They never got around to setting a date, which, apparently was a good thing.

While Murphy's rep failed to mention the exact timing of the split, enough time seems to have passed for the actress to feel comfortable in answering questions on the relationship--albeit misleadingly.

The erstwhile Clueless star appeared at the Teen Choice Awards last week sans both fiance and four-carat Tiffany engagement ring. When asked how her wedding plans were coming along, she reportedly hemmed and hawed.

"Everything is going wonderful, thank you," she said. "I'm just living every moment, you know, enjoying my life."

Life as a single girl.

It's the second broken civilian engagement for Murphy, who was previously set to tie the knot with talent manager Jeff Kwatinetz. By all accounts, that split was slightly less than amicable.

Murphy and Kwatinetz got engaged in January 2004, only to break it off five months later after a less than romantic trip to Paris. While the camera-ready couple failed to issue a statement on the separation, it was reported that Kwatinetz called it off after failing to get over his ex, actress Michelle Dupont, who by that time had moved on to

Adrien Brody.

Still, the removal of wedding preparations from Murphy's schedule simply means more time for promotion.

The actress has no fewer than six films in the works, including Sin City 2, where she'll reprise her role from the original; the comedy The Ramen Girl, where she stars as a recently dumped American woman stranded in Tokyo who decides to become a ramen chef; and the animated flick Tinker Bell, where she'll voice the titular fairy. The movies are all set for release next year.