Aug 18 2008 Simon Pegg 'Bastard' No Longer

On his official MySpace page, Simon Pegg has announced he'll no longer be appearing in Inglorious Bastards, instead choosing to work on Paul with Superbad director Greg Mottola:

Much to our mutual disappointment, I won't be appearing in QT's forthcoming Inglorious Bastards due to insurmountable scheduling difficulties. We really tried to make it work but in the end, it just was not possible without severe ramifications elsewhere.

I'm trying to remain upbeat, as Tom Selleck said "Who the hell is Indiana Jones anyway?"

As Peggylover commented, "the movie just wouldn't be Glorius without you!" So true. So true.

Aug 15 2008 Mike Myers Will Do Accent for 'Bastards'

Look, I know you promised yourself you'd never again see another Mike Myers movie after he pretended to be Indian and sang a Steve Miller Band cover for no apparent reason, but I'm afraid you might have to if you want to see Tarantino's latest. Yeah, the Love Guru is in that now:

Mike Myers has been recruited by Quentin Tarantino to join the ensemble cast of "Inglorious Bastards," the Tarantino-scripted pic that the Weinstein Co. and Universal will put into production Oct. 13 in Germany.

Myers will play British Gen. Ed Fenech, a military mastermind who takes part in hatching a plot to wipe out Nazi leaders.

Mike Myers playing a British officer? It seems like that could be really distracting if he were already known and moderately despised for playing a character with a heavy English accent that inspired a generation of amateur impressionists. But since that isn't the case, this seems fine. Actually, this answers a few questions I had when I was reading the script. All the scenes where Gen. Ed Fenech throws Mini-Gen. Ed Fenech make a lot more sense now.

Mike Myers enlists in 'Bastards' [Variety]

Aug 14 2008 Sandler Turned Down Chance of Being 'Inglorious Bastard'

Speaking to Irish television, Adam Sandler confirmed he will not be appearing in Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Bastards, instead choosing to do another movie with Judd Apatow (because Don't Mess with the Zohan worked so well):

Sandler had long been rumoured to take a major role in the Tarantino-scripted movie which the director has been planning for nearly a decade.

Asked had he been in talks with Tarantino, he told RTÉ.ie: "Yeah it's true. It is, and I read the script, it's fantastic. But I'm shooting at the very same time. I won't be able to do it. I'm doing a movie with Judd Apatow at the same time so that's not going to happen, but I did read it. It is awesome."

"I know Quentin for a long time. We've been talking about doing it for years, for like five, six, seven years. Yeah, it's definitely disappointing. I'd love to do it, but I just can't."

Now where is Quentin Tarantino going to find another Jewish comedian? (There are many Jewish comedians.)

Adam Sandler Turned Down Inglorious Bastards [Flick News] (Thanks, Siobhan)

Aug 8 2008 'Inglorious Bastards' Adds More Human Actors to Cast

More unexpected but good casting news from Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Bastards: Simon Pegg is joining the cast! And a German! And Brad Pitt is now a lock! From Variety:

Brad Pitt has closed his deal to star in "Inglorious Bastards," the WWII drama that Quentin Tarantino will direct for the Weinstein Co. and Universal.

Additionally, Nastassja Kinski is in early talks to play one of the sole female roles in the film. Casting the German-born actress jibes with Tarantino's habit of resuscitating dormant careers. Kinski, who has stayed away from mainstream American films for nearly a decade, would play a German movie queen.

Simon Pegg, David Krumholtz and B.J. Novak are also in talks to join the project. Pegg would play a British lieutenant, while Krumholtz and Novak would play Pitt's underlings.

Tarantino, Brad Pitt, Simon Pegg, and Ryan from The Office all collaborating on one movie? It's like a movie sandwich composed of things I usually like, and will probably make a good sandwich. Except the Eli Roth portion of the meal. He's like the "special sauce" that I've only had a slight taste of but suspect will be horrible in large quantities. Yeah, it might be OK, but given the option I would have left it off.

Aug 6 2008 QT Casting Eli Roth and Britney Spears in Things

Variety is reporting that Quentin Tarantino's pal Eli Roth is up for the role of a "baseball bat-swinging Nazi hunter" in Inglorious Bastards, and, in more what the eff territory, always-trustworthy "sources" are saying Britney Spears is in talks to play a lesbian stripper in QT's remake of Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! From the more interesting story:

Spears' character murders the boyfriend with her bare hands before taking the girlfriend hostage. The troubled singer will also have sex scenes with another girl before the drama ends in a blood-bath. Tarantino is in discussions with other Hollywood stars to take the roles of the remaining two strippers. A source said: "Quentin is convinced Britney will be brilliant. She's delighted. She thinks it could turn her career around.

Back in the Pulp Fiction days, Tarantino became sort of known for his ability to revive a dying career when he cast John Travolta in a lead role, but this is a whole new level of joke career he's dealing with. In 1994, Travolta was surprising because he'd been doing almost nothing but TV movies and Look Who's Talkings for years prior. Seeing him as Vincent Vega, it was believable because he'd been such a non-presence for so long that you could forget it was John Travolta. Casting Britney Spears doesn't work that way. It's like casting current John Travolta, aggravatingly prominent in the public eye because he's a nutcase. No matter what role she takes, there's no way to forget or forgive you're looking at Britney Spears. Maybe I'll be proved wrong, but the best case scenario I can see is leaving the theater thinking, "Wow, she really took me back to the time when it would have been shocking and/or desirable to see her as a stripping lesbian."

Jul 16 2008 Leonardo DiCaprio Might Be 'Inglorious Bastard'

Last week, rumor was that Brad Pitt would be taking a lead role in Quentin Tarantino's latest, Inglorious Bastards. Now, another A-list name can be added to the hypothetical list you're keeping: Growing Pains star Leonardo DiCaprio! From Variety:

After the director met Brad Pitt in France on Tuesday, those studios are already salivating over the expectation that Tarantino will land Pitt to play the key role of Aldo Raine. They'll be even keener if Tarantino's plan to meet Leonardo DiCaprio for another lead role goes well Thursday. Tarantino wants DiCaprio to play the role of Hans Landa.

I can't decide if this is really strong casting or casting entirely from a 1996 issue of Tiger Beat. The deciding factor will be if Tarantino tries to scrape together a posthumous performance from Jonathan Brandis.

Jul 10 2008 QT's 'Inglorious Bastards' Script is Like All of His Movies Plus Other Movies

Latino Review and Vulture have read Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Bastards script and they're saying, respectively, that it's like "if you took the bad guy swagger of RESERVOIR DOGS, the uber coolness and structure of PULP FICTION, throw in the revenge angle of KILL BILL, set it in World War II" and "like Kill Bill meets The Dirty Dozen meets Cinema Paradiso." You can read the specifics and plot details at either site, but both use the term "awesome" in describing it, which is usually a positive.

Also of note: "bastards" is spelled "basterds" throughout the script, though it's not entirely clear if that's intentional or not because there are apparently many other spelling and grammatical errors throughout (I'm hoping it was somehow an accident; otherwise it's going to really eff up my blog tags). So while it's reassuring to hear that Tarantino looks to have another hit, it's also oddly depressing to realize the man who brought us Pulp Fiction is still having issues with plural vs. possessive and "they're" and "there." Maybe he was using YouTube comments as a reference.

Jul 9 2008 Brad Pitt's Name Heard in Vague Relation to 'Inglorious Bastards'

Childcare specialist Brad Pitt may have a role in Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Bastards. Hollywood Reporter just brought the news that Tarantino will be re-teaming with the Weinsteins to shoot his Dirty Dozen-inspired WWII tale, and though no cast is yet locked, Pitt's name has reportedly "surfaced." That's Hollywood trade talk for, "No one will read this boring article about financing unless we add something juicy. Is Brad Pitt still popular? Put his name in there, but only incredibly vaguely hint that he's in the cast so that we can later deny everything."

Meanwhile, I hear Clooney's name is also "loitering in the proximity" of the casting sheet, and that Matt Damon's name "drifted past in a fine vapor," while Shia LaBeouf's name was "heard as ghostly echo with no discernible source."

Quentin Tarantino preps 'Bastards' [Hollywood Reporter]