The ever lovely Isla Fisher is apparently in talks to co-star in the as-of-yet titled prequel to Jackie Brown, a thing I wasn’t even aware existed. Based on the novel The Switch by Elmore Leonard, the film will follow Sameul L. Jackson’s and Robert De Niro’s characters Ordell and Louis (respectively) as they kidnap the wife of a dirty Detroit real estate mogul. Of course the husband refuses to pay and the whole deal goes south from there.
The story takes place 15 years before Jackie Brown and currently stars Mos Def and John Hawkes as the younger versions of Ordell and Louis, and Jeniffer Aniston as the unfortunate kidnap-ee. Fisher would be taking on the role of Melanie, played in Jackie Brown by Bridgett Fonda. This is a bit confusing, because if the story takes place 15 years in the past, Melanie would be pretty damn young, and as beautiful as Isla Fisher is, she is well beyond her teen years. Hopefully as we get more details we’ll get some clarification on the logistics of the whole thing.
Dan Schechter is set direct, and from what I can tell Quentin Tarantino isn’t involved in any official capacity, which is odd considering how willing he usually is to take on a producer role. Jackie Brown is my favorite Tarantino movie, so I’m not really sure I’m behind the idea of a prequel. Even if this manages to work, it would have to pretty damn great to live up to the standards set by the original. If nothing else, at least they’ve managed to piece together a pretty fantastic cast, which is a step in the right direction.
[Variety via JoBlo]
