UPDATE: Variety confirms today that Brad Pitt has officially signed on to star in Tarantino's Inglorious Bastards. In the flick, Pitt will play a "Tennessee hillbilly who assembles a team of eight Jewish-American soldiers." Eli Roth and BJ Novak are also signed on to star.

Originally posted July 7, 2008 ...

Quentin Tarantino is wasting no time getting Inglorious Bastards into production -- it may make Cannes 2009 after all! He's aiming now for an October shoot, his screenplay is apparently done, it's out to studios for financing, and now all he needs is his cast.

As of yet, there have been no official casting announcements, but according to The Hollywood Reporter, rumors are currently circling Brad Pitt's name. Frankly, the thought fills me with delight! Pitt does his finest work in edgier fare, and an appearance in a Tarantino-helmed movie (remember he played a role in True Romance, off a script written by Tarantino) seems long, long overdue. It would also bring his eerie career synchronicity with George Clooney full circle, wouldn't it?

The biggest question seems to be his schedule, which is jam packed with new babies, movies ( three of which he's starring in, eight that he is producing), publicity obligations, and his charity projects. I mean, he's trying to help rebuild New Orleans! Can he fit Inglorious Bastards in? October is not that far away.

Tarantino standbys Tim Roth and Michael Madsen have long been unofficially attached, and I have no doubt they'll make it legal before too long. I'd would love to see Harvey Keitel make an appearance too. And to have Pitt in the inglorious bunch seems so right.

If there's one movie descriptive that can actually get my jaded heart racing, it's "in the style of L.A. Confidential." Sure, it's glib, and probably sells the potential film and its source material short, but I can't help it, it's a magical phrase. And The Hollywood Reporter (by way of Lakeshore Entertainment) used it to describe Barry Levinson's latest movie.

Levinson is set to direct an adaptation of Peter Dexter's novel Train, a story set in 1950's Southern California. It centers around Miller Packard, a white sergeant in the San Diego Police Department, who has little time for the hypocrisy and racism of his age. An avid golfer, he befriends a troubled young African-American caddy named Lionel "Train" Walk, who harbors knowledge of an unreported murder that haunts his past. The city politics and racism of the 50's surround the murder investigation, and threaten their friendship.

Dexter's books have been popular in Hollywood recently -- he was the pen behind Mulholland Falls and The Paperboy is currently in production with Paul Verhoven and Jan de Bont. Unlike with Falls, he won't be penning the script this time around. That job falls to Allison Burnett, who's a pretty popular writer at Lakeshore, adapting Fame and penning Untraceable for them.

Hopefully, a Cinematical reader or two can chime in on the book. From its reviews, the source material sounds pretty enticing. Here's hoping this can not only be a comeback for Levinson, but a noir rival for L.A. Confidential.

The new Rolling Stone hits stands tomorrow, and as you can see to the right it's featuring the one and only Iron Man, Robert Downey Jr. The cover is fairly creepy -- the orange hoodie calls to mind the actor's struggles with the law during a time when they're quickly becoming a fading memory in the shadow of his rampant, mainstream fame. He says that he's in a "transition phase, I really am trying to live as much like a lizard as I can. Hot, rock, sun, fly, tongue."

Yet he's still Downey. You can read an excerpt of the interview at Rolling Stone, but there's one charming analogy I wanted to share. Talking about his busy present, he notes that he has to be mindful of the past and says:

"I'm such a work in progress at the moment, it's crazy, and life wants me on edge, I swear to you. But as long as I don't forget the past, I'm cool. One must always be mindful, just like you might forget that old girlfriend who tried to slit your throat, but she's really still hot. If you remember the stitches more than you remember the pussy, you're going to be just fine."

That's Stark all right. Hopefully he remembers the stitches.

[via Just Jared]

The franchise reboots may never end. According to ComingSoon.net (who spotted it on TrackingB.com), Shane Black has written a spec script for Lethal Weapon 5 without really telling anyone but Joel Silver.

The story would center around Riggs' impending retirement (and his, undoubtedly, being too old for ... well, you know). But before he leaves the force, he has to tackle one last case, and as there are no other police officers in Los Angeles, he hauls Murtaugh out of retirement to help him. Allegedly, both Mel Gibson and Danny Glover are interested, though no deals have been signed.

Now, I name drop Lethal Weapon enough that you undoubtedly know that the series ranks much higher in my life than it probably should. Watching it in my pre-teens not only taught me a choice vocabulary, it rocked my world with glimpses at a naked Mel Gibson. My problems with men probably stem from the pedestal I have placed Martin Riggs upon.

But, that doesn't mean I want a fifth movie -- I already sat through the fourth installment, and it wasn't that good. Black has penned some fantastic scripts in his time -- and I firmly believe A Long Kiss Goodnight is insanely underrated -- and I'd love to see him churning out action-comedies again. But not ones with Riggs and Murtaugh. Let Lethal Weapon lie, and write a franchise that can give us a new badass or two. Check out the video below of Seth Rogen and James Franco discussing Shane Black's movies from Moviefone's latest Unscripted chat...

First we had Sarah Silverman singing about f*cking Matt Damon, then Jimmy Kimmel had his turn with Damon's BFF, Ben Affleck. Now we have something even better: octogenarian actress and Academy Award-winner Cloris Leachman (who still looks damn good, thank you very much) getting all raunchy at a Comedy Central roast for Bob "Full House" Saget, threatening to get it on with "pretty boy" John Stamos on a "filthy bean bag chair" while using her Best Supporting Actress Oscar as a strap-on. There's a mental picture that'll take weeks to get out of your brain cells.

Maybe it's just the hilarity of seeing the stately Leachman talking about going after Stamos -- or perhaps even Jon Lovitz -- and then segueing seamlessly into a bit about performing a "reach-around" on Jack Benny that makes this so funny. I can't imagine it would have the same impact being said by, say, Tilda Swinton or Cate Blanchett. Anyhow, Leachman was way funnier than all the lame jokes about Saget having sex with the Olsen twins. She's still got it -- now, if only Tarantino would cast her in something as an ass-kicking, foul-mouthed granny ...

Thanks to Chris Campbell for blogging about this over on Spout yesterday.

Helena Bonham Carter gave a few hints on her surprising Terminator: Salvation role to Sci-Fi Wire -- and surprise surprise, it's not a cuddly one! "I kind of play a baddie, definitely a baddie. I don't know how much I'm allowed to say, but I'm a very bad person."

Now, I know there's readers out there who are more up on their Terminator mythology than I am (and it feels weird to even refer to it having a mythology), but were there bad humans? Turncoats who helped the machines? Evil scientists from Skynet? I feel certain this was discussed somewhere in a Kyle Reese monologue, but I may just be filling in gaps. Of course, Bonham Carter could be playing a Terminator (Summer Glau has proved you can be tiny and lethal), but I'm trying to keep all options open.

Given Bonham Carter's late in the game casting, it turns out she was replacing another actress -- Tilda Swinton, who I now want to pop up as a Terminator at some point. (I think I would instantly surrender.)

As for Bonham Carter's own interest, it turns out it was all due to her other half. "Tim [Burton] would have killed me if I hadn't done it, because he's such a Terminator fan. I've been in big movies before ... but I've never been in this kind of big popcorn action movie, a male one, an action one." And honestly, I like that she is in one. I continue to be amazed at the talent who has been attracted to this film, and like the rest of the world, I'm excited to see what becomes of it.

Terminator: Salvation opens May 22, 2009. We must try not to get overdosed on it ... and that's going to be really hard.

This is all casual talk, occurring over beers at the Hard Rock Hotel (oh, to have been at the bar next to them), but it's a fun bit of rumors and dream casting nonetheless.

Geoff Boucher of the LA Times' Hero Complex blog chatted up Jason Statham and Frank Miller on, of all things, Daredevil. The three started talking about a potential reboot of the character, with Statham taking on the role of Matt Murdock. The hard-hitting Brit is excited at the very prospect. "Absolutely, just give me the chance, I would love to be Daredevil." (The emphasis is all Boucher.) In fact, when Boucher suggested he'd make a better Bullseye, Statham looked as though he'd hit him with his pint glass. "Forget Bullseye, I want to be Daredevil!"

Miller thinks he should be Daredevil too -- and apparently got quite quite a twinkle in his eye at the very thought of another movie. That's not surprising, since the character made his career, and I could see him ushering a Daredevil reboot into gear sooner than penning a sequel to 300. (At least, that's what I hope and dream would happen.)

So, what do you guys think? Would Statham be a good fit for the Man Without Fear? As I could watch Statham in just about anything, I'm too biased to judge. (He's got the right jawline for the mask!) I also haven't read as much Daredevil as I should; I have the misfortune of always encountering him as a secondary or background character, so I don't have a very good feel for him. But I like the idea, if only so I could get the Elektra reboot of my dreams.

Now this is the kind of offbeat casting you expect out of Quentin Tarantino -- except that, really, it's not that unusual for him to cast his pals, so it makes a guy like Leonardo DiCaprio an edgier pick. Oh, that crazy Tarantino!

According to Variety, Eli Roth is set to play Sgt. Donnie Donowitz, "a baseball bat swinging Nazi hunter" in Tarantino's already much-discussed Inglorious Bastards. Brad Pitt is still "in talks" for Aldo Raine, but it would be a shocker if it wasn't official. Pitt and Roth, together at last, the pair-up the world never knew it wanted.

DiCaprio has gone from "in talks" to "eliminated." He was being considered for the part of SS Col Hans Landa, but Tarantino has decided that part should be played by a real live German. This is probably a good idea, as the last thing any film needs is a wonky accent. I do find it funny that when it comes to accuracy, this is one movie that is determined to have a real German, as opposed to the dozens of films that ignore portraying race, ethnicity, and culture!

The cast is expected to be formalized shortly, and filming to begin in Europe this fall. Given that Tarantino is looking to his friends to fill the empty slots, I am still betting Tim Roth and Michael Madsen will pop up somewhere. Who else do you expect to pop up in Bastards, readers? And what do you think of Roth's addition?