When the name Matthau enters the ear, you can't help but think of both the older and more recent classics of
Walter Matthau. He created the world around the dirty Oscar Madison in the
Odd Couple, sauced his way into the Candide-infused satire
Candy and then rejoined Jack Lemmon for some
Grumpy Old Men before his death in 2000. However, there's another Matthau to keep an eye on, his son,
Charlie -- he's been an actor, mainly in his father's films, and has directed a few under-the-radar features.
Now the spotlight seems to be turning to the younger Matthau. According to
Variety, he is going to direct his own adaptation of
Freaky Deaky, an Elmore Leonard novel from the 80's. It was originally optioned by Quentin Tarantino, but it's no surprise that it didn't go anywhere after the flop that was
Jackie Brown. After Tarantino, John Malcovich let it gather dust until it once again became Leonard's property. Matthau anxiously and relentlessly hounded the novelist for the rights, and subsequently bought them with his own money.
The novel, in a nut shell, covers two ex-revolutionaries who are fresh out of prison and want to make a profit on their explosive talents while also taking revenge on the man they believe is responsible for their prison sentence. The man in question is also the focus of a Motown cop. Obviously, this leads to explosive action and tricky confrontation. The film, however, will be updated. Matthau has moved the action from Detroit to LA, and moved the timeline from the 80s to the 70s. This doesn't seem to be something Leonard fans should worry about, however, since Leonard is incredibly positive about the changes: "I see this as a chance for my favorite book to become my favorite screenplay adaptation." How's that for optimism?
And here are yet another round of small casting bites, courtesy of Variety:
Indie niblets for you:
