Alexander Payne Preparing Alexander Payne All-Star Line-Up for Latest

Election star Reese Witherspoon, Sideways star Paul Giamatti, and Sacha Baron Cohen--who hasn't been in any Alexander Payne movies, upsetting my all-star theory--have agreed to star in Downsizing, a new film that sounds like Honey, I Shrunk the Kids as a romantic comedy:

Alexander Payne is putting the finishing touches on the social satire "Downsizing," a script about miniature people, and has put together a big-name cast.

Paul Giamatti, Sacha Baron Cohen and Reese Witherspoon have all committed to star in the film, which would likely land at Fox Searchlight, where Payne has a first-look deal.

Giamatti, who teamed with the director on "Sideways," is aboard to star as a man low on money who decides he can have a much nicer life if he undergoes a process to shrink himself.

Witherspoon, whose career took off after starring in Payne's "Election," would play a woman Giamatti meets on his journey as a miniature person. Baron Cohen would play a pint-sized foreigner.

Well, obviously Sacha Baron Cohen is the foreigner character. He has so many great, mildly-offensive accents in his arsenal, it would be a crime not to make him the foreigner character. The real question is if Jack Nicholson or a naked Kathy Bates will be unlockable secret characters.

Alexander Payne is 'Downsizing' [Variety]