Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Bastards shooting in October

It's been almost five yars since Quentin Tarantino first mentioned his war film Inglorious Bastards. At the time, it had a 600-page screenplay and was thought of as a possible trilogy.  But Tarantino makes films at his own pace, with only six under his belt since his debut with Resevoir Dogs. Apparently something fired him up at Cannes this year, though, and he announced that Bastards would premier there next year, a claim greeted with large amounts of skepticism.

The good thing about Tarantino, though, is that as much as he runs his mouth off he's also one to back up his words. The Hollywood Reporter gave official word that pre-production was underway, and like Tarantino said, they're moving quickly. Bastards is set to begin shooting somewhere in Europe during October. Not only that, but already rumors about casting from Nikki Finke have Brad Pitt set to star.

Inglorious Bastards tells the story of Dirty Dozen-esque group of soldiers caught behind enemy lines during WWII. Despite using the same title, it's not a remake of Enzo Castellari's film, but instead intends to work as an homage to the previous Bastards and its contemporary '70s war films. Not much else is known about the movie, and though Michael Madsen had claimed to be attached to the film, it's unknown whether that's still the case after all these years.

The Weinstein Company will be co-financing the film, which is an odd change since previously it has entirely financed all of Tarantino's films. In fact, Miramax more or less began its own productions with Pulp Fiction, previously being known mostly for distributing films rather than making its own. The Weinsteins are instead merely co-financing the film and looking for someone to help out in exchange for international rights. Word is that Tarantino's shopped Bastards to Universal, Warner Bros, Paramount and Sony. This continues general speculation that The Weinstein Company is having financial problems, since it also recently turned down Kevin Smith's Red State and Robert Rodriguez's Barbarella. Part of this may be in order to obtain Pitt-esque A-list stars, which would be pricey and also a first for Tarantino.

As far as other rumors about the script film go, one circulating currently is that the "Bastards is probably two films" one is probably false. Variety more or less debunked that report after speaking with Tarantino and learning that, "He's aiming to deliver the movie at Pulp Fiction length (154 minutes)." The director has done similar work before, since much of True Romance and Pulp Fiction originally came from an equally massive script he co-wrote with Roger Avary.

Can Tarantino cast, direct and edit Inglorious Bastards in time for May next year? The race is on, but all signs as of now point to yes.

Related links:
News: Quentin Tarantino to instruct Cannes masterclass
Review: Grindhouse
Quentin Tarantino on IMDb

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