Robert Altman's Hard Body

As much as you ladies out there would love this post to talk about how Robert Altman has one helluva sexy body for a man in his 80s, I simply cannot and will not go there. (Seriously, even I have limits.) However, I will talk about a new film in which he plans to direct. Yes, even though Paul Thomas Anderson reportedly sat alongside Altman on the set of A Prairie Home Companion just in case the old man were to, um, die -- the dude is still eager to continue working. How's that for dedication!

Altman is close to signing another deal with Picturehouse (the distributor behind Companion) for a film inspired by S.R. Bindler's 1997 documentary Hands on a Hard Body. The doc revolved around an endurance test in Texas where a group of people competed for a brand new Nissan Hardbody truck. Apparently, the last person left with their hand on the truck got to drive home in the bad boy. (It's okay, you're not the only one who thinks this is an odd project for Altman to take on.) The legendary director has already started talking to folks like Billy Bob Thornton and Hilary Swank with hopes they'll star in the pic, which Altman compares to the 1969 Sydney Pollack flick They Shoot Horses, Don't They. Altman is partnering with writer Stephen Harrigan on the script and hopes to begin production as early as January.