Demi Moore Joins Josh Hartnett in 'Bunraku'

Upon first hearing Josh Hartnett mention his starring role in the fantasy action flick Bunraku, I had a hard time believing the film was ever going to happen. It's not every day a movie has paper mache puppets, origami, comic books, video games AND German expressionism. Plus, Hartnett was comparing the look of the film to everything from Hitchcock to Michel Gondry. To be honest, the whole thing sounded like a mess. But, I guess it was all sorted out because The Hollywood Reporter announced that Demi Moore has just signed to star in the role of a captive courtesan to an evil warlord.

Guy Moshe (who also wrote the script) will direct the story of a lone drifter (Hartnett) who blows into town with revenge on his mind, but is soon faced with even bigger problems than he started with. Woody Harrelson also signed to play 'The Bartender' (in a bar where everyone knows your name?) and Japanese actor Shun Sugata (Kill Bill) has been cast in the role of 'Uncle'.

Moore will start work on Bunraku as soon as shooting wraps on her indie drama, Happy Tears. In Tears, she stars alongside Parker Posey in the story of a father and daughter suffering from dementia, and the older sister fed up with being their caretaker. Production on Bunraku is set to begin later this spring, and rather than rely on sound stages to take the place of the 'alternate universe', Moshe will be shooting on location in Europe. Bunraku is expected to arrive in theaters in 2009.