Actors have always jumped at the chance to take part in a big-screen adaptation of an Elmore Leonard story, and the beloved novelists latest film project is starting to attract major talent.
Deadline reports that Jennifer Aniston – fresh off her most successful year in cinema in ages thanks to Just Go With It and Horrible Bosses – is in talks to join Switch, a film project first reported to be a prequel of sorts to Quentin Tarantino’s Jackie Brown. In truth, it’s not a prequel, but rather a parallel tale that is intersected by characters who appeared in the 1997 neo-noir. She’d play a woman who’s kidnapped by two ex-cons in an attempt to extort money from her seedy real estate developer husband, a role being circled by Dennis Quaid. The twist? When the husband refuses to pay, the angry wife teams with the two ex-cons to swindle all of his money. Already cast are Oscar nominee John Hawkes, Mos Def and Ty Burrell. Daniel Schechter will write and direct.
What’s most interesting about this project is the fact Hawkes and Mos Def will be playing younger versions of the two main characters in Jackie Brown – Louis Gara and Ordell Robbie, previously incarnated by Robert De Niro and Samuel L. Jackson. The dynamic established between these two actors was highly entertaining, and the fate of this film may largely depend on whether or not Hawkes and Mos Def will be able to replicate that chemistry. Plus, they’ll need to score points with nostalgic audiences who loved the original pairing. The addition of two more familiar and revered faces like Aniston and Quaid will serve as a back up plan, though. If she can bring the kind of ruthlessness she injected into Horrible Bosses in her role as a scorned wife, she’ll easily steal the show.
A May production date is being eyed for Switch.
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