Quentin’s new project

July 10th, 2008 at 08:23am Will Pfeifer

If you’ve been wondering how Quentin Tarantino was going to follow-up DEATH PROOF, his too-talky half of the GRINDHOUSE double feature, wonder no more. According to the Hollywood Reporter (and other sources), he’s apparently going to finally make INGLORIOUS BASTARDS, a World War II epic he’s been talking about since the 1990s. Filming is slated to start in October, with a release date sometime next year — maybe in time for Cannes?

New York Magazine apparently has a copy of the screenplay, and it looks good (aside from the misspelled “INGLOURIOUS” on the title page). One quoted section has a commander demanding “one hundred Nazi scalps” from his men, and the whole thing finishes with a chapter called “Revenge of the Giant Face.” Movie? Heck — I just hope someone publishes this screenplay.

The cast, at one time or another, has included Sylvester Stallone, Adam Sandler, Michael Madsen and, most intriguingly, Arnold Schwarzenegger, who would be playing an actual German. No report on who’s going to actually be in the current cast (I’d bet against Gov. Schwarzenegger), but Brad Pitt’s name has been floating around the rumor mill. I think it’d be a nice move for  Pitt. He’s got the very promising STRANGE CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON coming out this Christmas, but a crazy, over-the-top action movie would be a refreshing change of pace from all those tabloid reports tracing the imminent birth of Angelina’s twins.

If the title of QT’s movie sounds familiar, you’ve got a good memory. INGLORIOUS BASTARDS  was originally a crazy 1978 action flick that promised “Whatever the Dirty Dozen did, they do it dirtier!” I remember seeing it as a kid on HBO back in the very early 1980s, and I’ve never forgotten it. The (very) good news: It finally arrives on DVD July 29. Look for a review in my Tuesday column as soon as I get my grubby little hands on a copy.

Entry Filed under: Movie news, Violence