It was over a year ago that news first surfaced about Richard Curtis' (Love Actually) rock 'n' roll comedy, The Boat that Rocked. But at the time, there was no cast in sight. Well, we've waited long enough, and now it looks Curtis has finally found his stars. Variety reports that Rhys Ifans and Kenneth Branagh have signed to star in the musical flick for Universal and Working Title Productions.

The story is set in the wild and heady times known as the 1970s. The two men will play pirate radio DJ's who run their station from a leaky boat out at sea. When an American woman comes to visit the deejays, she falls for her boyfriend's pal (Ifans) and chaos ensues. Joining Branagh and Ifans is January Jones (best know as the depressed hausfrau on TV's Mad Men) as the beguiling American gal.

Curtis wrote the script himself and will also direct. The story has been described as "Animal House meets Titanic," which probably isn't the most likely pairing of styles, but what can you do? Ifans has made a name for himself in ensemble comedies playing characters that are a little -- shall we say, 'out there'? Branagh, on the other hand, might not seem to be the obvious choice for a comedy, but if you have seen A Midwinter's Tale, then you know that he has a few giggles up his sleeve. So in the end, it seems that the two actors make a good fit for the seemingly 'wacky' flick. The Boat that Rocked is set to start shooting in early March on location in London.

Those Weinsteins don't waste a minute! IndieWIRE reports that the Weinstein Company has bought the Toronto International Film Festival entry Boy A before it even screens there. The deal was finalized Friday; the film premieres Saturday. Talk about beating the rush.

Based on a novel by Jonathan Trigell, Boy A is a drama about a young man released from prison after spending most of his life there for a serious crime he committed when he was a child. The director is John Crowley, his second theatrical feature after 2003's ensemble comedy Intermission, which played out like a violent version of Love Actually. Boy A's cast includes Andrew Garfield, Peter Mullan, Katie Lyons, and Shaun Evans.

The Weinsteins' luck has been bad the last couple years, with very few hits and a lot of box office flops. But one thing they've generally been good at is sniffing out winners at film festivals. Buying Boy A before it even premieres suggests they spotted a good one and didn't want to risk someone else grabbing it -- that, or they're getting desperate. Hopefully we'll have some insight from our crew members in Toronto after the film screens there.