Bastards, bastards, bastards! The best part about Quentin Tarantino appropriating the title for his upcoming movie from Enzo Castellari's high-energy original is that I get to satisfy my inner 11-year-old and tell you all about the latest Inglorious Bastards withour fear of recrimination from parental figures. Diane Kruger is the highest-profile new bastard, according to Variety, joined by Christoph Waltz and writer / actor / comedian Paul Rust.

Kruger, the hellenic beauty who first made a splash on these shores opposite Orlando Bloom in Troy -- which also starred soon to be chief bastard Brad Pitt as a bit of a heel -- will play Bridget Von Hammersmark (not "Hammer Snark," smart guy), a German actress. Kruger is fine casting since, of course, she is a German actress, and already has experience playing WWII theatrics with the flick Joyeaux Noël (Merry Christmas), but I'm sorry that Nastassja Kinski will not be playing the role. She's the kind of 40-something actor that could use a juicy role to remind people of who she is.

Waltz is an unknown quantity to US eyes, though he's done plenty of TV work in Germany. He snared the role of Col Hans Landa, the main Nazi antagonist, the part that Leonard DiCaprio was "in talks" to discuss. If nothing else, Waltz shouldn't have a problem with the accent. Paul Rust has written for Adult Swim's Moral Orel and MTV's Human Giant and appeared in Semi-Pro. Let me go out on a limb and guess that he's been cast -- as the comic relief? I'm sure somebody out there in Commenter Land has read the script and can guess for the rest of us.

It's a lonely day in the neighborhood ....

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: I'm not sure whether Warner Bros. was prepared for the ridiculous fanboy (and girl) backlash that came with pushing the film's release date back several months to the middle of July, 2009, though it looks like they've re-grouped, dusted themselves off and are preparing to get that marketing machine up and running again. Following a statement from Warners chief Alan Horn (included after the jump) comes word from our friends at Bloghogwarts that Warner Bros. has sent in a new trailer (marked at a minute and a half) to the BBFC for approval. Could this be the studio's version of make-up sex? (PG rated make-up sex, of course.) Only time will tell ...

Inglorious Bastards: These days, when it comes to the cast of Quentin Tarantino's WWII flick Inglorious Bastards, nothing is set in stone (or badass, motherf**king stone, as QT would say). Thus, we want to be real careful about this latest news (via Variety) that Michael Fassbender is "in talks" to join the ensemble cast. Note that he's "in talks", as were a few other guys (Simon Pegg, David Krumholtz, though the latter is still mentioned by the trade) before they dropped out. Though they don't say who he'd be playing, the German-speaking actor would most likely take on the role of badass motherf**king Nazi in charge of total damage ... which sounds about right to me. Fassbender, of course, is best known for his role as Stelios in 300, and is still set to appear opposite Abbie Cornish in Wuthering Heights.

Well, we have some good news and some bad news to report during this glorious summer weekend. Which do you want first? Since I always pick the bad news first, we'll go with that: Apparently, Quentin Tarantino is having some trouble getting some of his potential Inglorious Bastards cast members to sign on the dotted line. Not only has David Krumholtz dropped out (and replaced by Samm Levine from Freaks and Geeks, so says AICN), but unfortunately the same has happened with Simon Pegg.

Over on his MySpace page, Pegg has told fans that he will no longer be co-starring in the Tarantino WWII flick, but will instead (and here's the good news) reunite with Nick Frost for a film called Paul (first reported wayyy back in September of 2007). This time, however, Edgar Wright will not be behind the camera, as Pegg said Superbad's Greg Mottola has taken over directing duties. Paul will follow two comic book geeks (Pegg and Frost) on some sort of road trip across America. No word yet on who'll be replacing Pegg in Bastards, though I can name more than a few Brits who'd do a bang-up job.

The full cast for Quentin Tarantino's WWII flick Inglorious Bastards is starting to come together. Not long after Variety announced that Brad Pitt was officially onboard to play a "Tennessee hillbilly who assembles a team of eight Jewish-American soldiers to take on the Nazis," word has come out that Simon Pegg, David Krumholtz and Nastassja Kinski are all in talks to join the picture. The Office's B.J. Novak is already in talks as well, and he and Krumholtz sign on, they'll be playing "Pitt's underlings." Pegg, on the other hand, would be playing a British lieutenant. Kinski, who's being looked at to play a German movie queen (and is actually German -- go figure!), would become one of the only females in this male-dominated cast.

Personally, I'm a fan of all these folks, though I'm still holding out for a few Tarantino regulars to pop up at some point. (I'd also like to offer up Cinematical's Scott Weinberg for a role. He's a good Jew, that kid.) Tim Roth should definitely nab a role before casting is all said and done, though I'm not so sure there's something for Michael Madsen. I've got the script sitting on my desktop (haven't read it yet), so if you've managed to take a peak, who else do you think would fit in here?

Here's some top casting news for Thursday, August 7:

• The office used to be the perfect prep work for a life of filofaxes, stale coffee, and covert games of freecell. Now it's the perfect training to become one of the Inglorious Bastards. The Hollywood Reporter posts that B.J. Novak is in talks to play one of the soldiers in Quentin Tarantino's long-in-coming film that suddenly got a jolt of caffeine. Should Novak's talks work out, he'll play PFC Utvich, "a soldier of slight build who comes from New York."
• Meryl Streep, meanwhile, is looking to get more romantic comedies under her belt. I guess she's really digging the lighter fare. Variety reports that she is in advanced negotiations to star in an untitled romcom that will place her in a romantic triangle with two men. This project comes from the pen of Nancy Meyers, who has brought us Private Benjamin, Irreconcilable Differences, Father of the Bride, Something's Got to Give, and The Holiday. But who will play the lucky leading men?
• Finally, Max Thieriot has scored the title role in a new sci-fi action film called Prodigy, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Playing a kid named William Cooley, he gets to be "a rebellious student at an elite boarding school producing world leaders with the help of pharmaceuticals. Three days before graduation, several of its alumni are murdered, and William is implicated." The valedictorian begins to investigate the poor kid, and the two become reluctant allies in the fight against the bad guys. Dave Kalstein adapted the story from his own novel, and production is slated to begin in October.

Men on a mission! Naked women shooting machine guns! Wildly inappropriate hair styles! The recent arrival of Enzo G. Castellari's The Inglorious Bastards on DVD makes clear that the movie is an entertaining, stylish adventure in its own right, justly deserving its reputation as a Eurocult genre gem. Inevitably, it also prompts speculation about what exactly Quentin Tarantino will do with his upcoming version, especially since the DVD features an extended conversation between Tarantino and Castellari about their respective visions.

The 1978 original doesn't have a "bat-wielding Nazi hunter," as one character has been recently described in casting talks for Tarantino's version, though it is set in World War II France. Miscreant Bo Svenson and murderer Fred Williamson are headed to military jail when their convoy is attacked by the Germans. The handful of surviving deserters plan to escape to neutral Switzerland before they end up on a suicide mission for the Allies under the command of Colonel Bruckner (Ian Bannen).

The men take a jaunty trip through a cartoon wonderland constructed out of Hollywood fantasy and Italian wish fulfillment. The film only rarely intersects with real life, instead inhabiting a world of wisecracks and world-weary warriors whose guns never run out of bullets. Castellari is such a brilliant director, though, that The Inglorious Bastards fairly pops off the screen with energetic fervor in nearly every sequence.

As such, it serves as a fabulous blueprint that Tarantino has probably drawn upon, ripped apart, and reassembled.

Now this is the kind of offbeat casting you expect out of Quentin Tarantino -- except that, really, it's not that unusual for him to cast his pals, so it makes a guy like Leonardo DiCaprio an edgier pick. Oh, that crazy Tarantino!

According to Variety, Eli Roth is set to play Sgt. Donnie Donowitz, "a baseball bat swinging Nazi hunter" in Tarantino's already much-discussed Inglorious Bastards. Brad Pitt is still "in talks" for Aldo Raine, but it would be a shocker if it wasn't official. Pitt and Roth, together at last, the pair-up the world never knew it wanted.

DiCaprio has gone from "in talks" to "eliminated." He was being considered for the part of SS Col Hans Landa, but Tarantino has decided that part should be played by a real live German. This is probably a good idea, as the last thing any film needs is a wonky accent. I do find it funny that when it comes to accuracy, this is one movie that is determined to have a real German, as opposed to the dozens of films that ignore portraying race, ethnicity, and culture!

The cast is expected to be formalized shortly, and filming to begin in Europe this fall. Given that Tarantino is looking to his friends to fill the empty slots, I am still betting Tim Roth and Michael Madsen will pop up somewhere. Who else do you expect to pop up in Bastards, readers? And what do you think of Roth's addition?

The casting rumors for Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Bastards just keep circulating -- I'm dying for something to be confirmed, already! Brad Pitt was rumored to be in talks for the key role of Aldo Raine, and given that Tarantino flew all the way to France to meet with him suggests it's more than idle talk.

Now, according to Variety, Tarantino wants Leonardo DiCaprio to play Hans Landa, and is meeting with the actor on Thursday to discuss the part with him. This would be DiCaprio's first time working with Tarantino, and frankly, it would be a nice break from his Martin Scorcese trend. DiCaprio is another one of those actors with a pre-production list a mile long, so a scheduling conflict could manage to keep him out of the movie.

While I was really behind the idea of Pitt, I'm not sure how I feel about DiCaprio. Don't get me wrong, I really like him, but he's becoming the go-to guy for just about every film that's in production. Plus, Tarantino is pretty famous for his inspired and offbeat casting. Hiring two of Hollywood's golden boys (and I mean that in a nice way) seems a little pedestrian. But Tarantino is anything but predictable, and he can coax surprising performances out of all sorts of actors. What looks rather uninspiring from the outside could be one of his best ensembles yet. What do you think?

Anyone kind of wish Quentin Tarantino would chill and experiment with actually releasing a single, standalone movie rather than bizarro omnibuses and multi-part sagas? Well, too damn bad. Harry Knowles has a fairly lengthy piece on an interview with Tarantino that will be included for the forthcoming DVD release of the original Enzo Castellari version of Inglorious Bastards, which Tarantino is currently remaking/expanding/tributing. (Remember when he announced that he planned to have it ready for Cannes 2009? That was awesome.) In it, Tarantino discusses his plans for the film, including the fact that while writing the script (which he's still polishing), he did so much research that his story bubbled over into a second movie. In other words: here we go again.

Look, I'm happy to indulge the guy; really, I am. I sit through most movies anyway, and I have no problem sitting through an extra one by a filmmaker as interesting and skilled as Tarantino. He's bursting with ideas; fantastic. But there's a lot to be said for brevity and storytelling efficiency too.

The original Inglorious Bastards will hit DVD in a lavish 3-disc edition -- wait, make that "3-disc explosive edition" -- on July 29th. I note without comment that the Castellari film itself runs 99 minutes.

I just got off the phone with Tim Roth, who, of course, stars as Emil Blonsky/Abomination in The Incredible Hulk (due out on Friday). We'll post our entire interview later this week, along with two reviews of the new (and definitely improved) Hulk, but to whet your appetite, here are a few non Hulk-related nuggets from the man himself. When I asked Roth about Inglorious Bastards and how Quentin Tarantino claimed to be heading for pre-production, he had this to say: "It's something me and Quentin had talked about over the years, and I don't know what's happening. If Quentin wants me, I'm there. But it's been years and years in the making. It's gonna be fun, though. If it's coming from Quentin, it's gonna be fun. I'm perfectly happy to roll up; I don't even need to read the script. Just tell me where to stand."

Additionally, and I thought this was kinda fun, I asked Roth if there were any characters of his he'd like to revisit at some point down the line. That's when he replied, "I'd like to do the Pulp Fiction character." I asked if he'd talked with Tarantino about doing a spin-off flick with Pumpkin and Honey Bunny: "Yeah, we did -- we talked about it before, because he thought they would've been good in Natural Born Killers; those two characters. We've often talked about it -- day dreams -- about taking those characters and making a film around them."

What say you? Would you be up for a Pulp Fiction spin-off featuring Pumpkin and Honey Bunny?