When you look at Javier Bardem, do you think: "Gee, he'd look great in a dress!" or, "Gee, he'd make a good woman?" No? Well then, you're right in line with Francis Ford Coppola. According to The Hollywood Reporter, he's made a big change in his upcoming film, Tetro, giving what he calls a "sex change" to the character Bardem was set to play. So, Bardem is out and fellow Spaniard Carmen Maura (Volver) is in.

During rehearsals for the shoot, Coppola realized that things needed to be changed: "One of the important roles in the script is a mentor and teacher to Tetro (Vincent Gallo), and I originally wrote it for a man. As I read and reread (the script), I felt that the interaction between the two characters would be far more intriguing if they were of the opposite sex." However, other sources have told THR that Bardem "became unavailable." This could be true, as the actor wasn't available for the rehearsals in Buenos Aires. But if it is, why not say as much?

Whatever the case, you can be sure that Maura will give a very different performance than Bardem would have -- just like Gallo will definitely bring something very different to the table than Matt Dillon. The film follows Tetro, a man living in Buenos Aires and being mentored by Maura's literary critic, when his estranged younger brother (Alden Ehrenreich) comes to find him. Production began on March 31.

Things don't seem to be going smoothly for Matt Dillon. For the second time this year, his lead role is going to someone else. First it was Cadillac Records. Now it's Francis Ford Coppola's Tetro. The Hollywood Reporter has posted that Vincent Gallo has signed on to star in Coppola's next directorial gig, with no reference to the previously-attached Dillon.

Gallo, meanwhile, signs on for the project after throwing a big stink about his previous gig, Giallo. Back in February, he was less than pleased that Dario Argento had cast daughter Asia Argento, and wanted out: "I'd rather not be in a movie with her. I'm not a fan. I was a fan of her father's. I'm retiring." I guess Javier Bardem and newcomer Alden Ehrenreich can feel honored that Gallo is willing/interested in working with them!

With production beginning at the end of the month in Buenos Aires, the film focuses on two brothers, played by Gallo and Ehrenreich. They're "torn apart by rivalries and betrayal," older bro Gallo heads to Buenos Aires, and younger brother Alden goes there to find him. Bardem will play an Argentinian literary critic and Maribel Verdu is Tetro's love interest.

The ever-entertaining Francis Ford Coppola has sat down with the Guardian on the eve of the release of his latest film, Youth Without Youth. Here's the highlight reel: Coppola is forced to backpeddle over those recent comments he made about Nicholson, Pacino and De Niro being old and fat and rich, or something like that. "I said, well they're not the same guys they were when they were young and hungry. Now they are rich. Deservedly so. Thank God, you know. Then it gets all twisted. I mean, I'm a friendly guy, right?" Love that last part. He goes on to add "Jack is a huge talent, one of the greats. These are my friends. And that kind of stuff can hurt friendships."

On his next film, Tetro, Coppola seems to have confirmed to the paper that Javier Bardem will star, although it's written ambiguously enough that the Guardian may have just been printing what they erroneously believe to be fact. Coppola says "It's about fathers, sons and brothers, a bit Tennessee Williams, a bit Rocco and His Brothers." He then launches into a defensive posture, pointing out that no matter what he does people will be expecting a new Godfather landmark film and will be disappointed if he doesn't deliver that. "They hope it's going to be another Godfather. There is always that hope even in the face of the impossibility of that actually happening."

The Godfather and its import on Coppola's career is a theme of the interview, and at times the director even seems to shrug off the impact of the film or suggest that his career would have been more pure, like Godard's, if he had not been left to contend with helming one of the most successful pictures of all time. "I got sidetracked," he says. "I would have made more personal films. Films of ideas. Like the guys who were making movies when I came of age -- Godard and the New Wave. Which is what I wanted to do in the first place." Sounds to me like Coppola needs to get out of the vineyards and get back to work and stop feeling so sorry for himself.

Imagine you went to a bat mitzvah and Steven Spielberg was there. Now, imagine he came up and talked to you. And then he got you an acting gig. An acting gig starring in a Francis Ford Coppola film. So, maybe that's not exactly how it went down for Alden Ehrenreich, but nonetheless he was apparently "discovered" by the Schindler's List director -- via a video shown at a bat mitzvah Spielberg attended -- and he is now cast in a major role in Coppola's Tetro, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Ehrenreich joins the film's star, Matt Dillon, who has been attached from the beginning; the two actors will play brothers. Also added to the film is Spanish actress Maribel Verdú (Pan's Labyrinth; Y tu mamá también) as Dillon's character's girlfriend. Javier Bardem may also sign on, if his schedule allows, to play an Argentine literary critic named Unknown.

Originally the film was described as being about rival Italian immigrant families, which could still be the case, but now the main story is said to focus on the younger brother (Ehrenreich), who head to Buenos Aires in order to find his older brother (Dillon), who left the family many years before. Whatever the plot, though, Tetro is sure to be a good film with this cast. I will be disappointed if Coppola doesn't hire some of my local Argentine favorites (Ricardo Darín; Norma Aleandro; Mía Maestro; any of these deserve the exposure). One thing we probably don't have to worry about is whether or not young Ehrenreich will be any good. Spielberg has a good record with young performers, from Drew Barrymore to Joseph Mazzello to current favorite Shia LaBeouf, so we can trust this latest protege will deliver the goods. Tetro begins shooting in Argentina in February.

It's not much of a secret that Francis Ford Coppola did The Godfather and The Godfather: Part II in order to work on more personal films, particularly The Conversation. So, it isn't that surprising to find out neither those two nor The Godfather: Part III are among his personal favorites. According to Page Six, Coppola considers his five best films to be Apocalypse Now, Rumble Fish, The Rain People, his upcoming Youth Without Youth and, obviously, The Conversation, which also happens to be my favorite of his work. This shortlist comes from the next issue of Time magazine, which also includes a continuation of a lengthy two-part profile on the filmmaker. Within the article, Coppola suggests that it's his films that took awhile for critics to appreciate, like Apocalypse, or awhile for audiences to discover, like Rain People, that he prefers.

None of this should upset his fans; they still love The Godfather trilogy, and at least his other monument, Apocalypse, is included. It isn't like he selected Jack or Captain EO. Also in Time is Coppola's clarification of his alleged chiding of Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino and Jack Nicholson, which apparently was taken out of context. He told reporters at the Rome Film Festival, where Youth premiered last month, that his comments in GQ weren't true, that he has "nothing but respect and admiration" for the three actors, who he considers the best in the world, as well as his friends. However, he wouldn't address the original comments specifically for Time's article. Other things that were discussed in the profile include Coppola's next film, Tetro, which will begin shooting in Argentina in February, despite the recent robbery. Youth Without Youth, which sounds a lot better to me since Coppola lumped it with my own favorites of his films, is set to hit U.S. theaters (NYC and L.A.) December 14.

News hit this morning that a laptop owned by Francis Ford Coppola had been stolen from an office in Buenos Aires, where Coppola's Zoetrope Argentina was set up to do pre-production work on the filmmaker's next project, Tetro. The robbery happened Wednesday night, involved the tying up of Zoetrope employees, one of whom was cut by a knife, and apparently also included the theft of other computer, cameras and valuables. On the specific laptop, though, was a real treasure for cinephiles: the screenplay for Tetro, which we previously learned is about Italian immigrants in Argentina. It wasn't the only copy, of course, but it was a shame. Still, the original story seemed not to be devastating for Coppola, who wasn't in the area, as he isn't expected to begin shooting until next year. As of this morning, it didn't even seem like he was going to issue a statement about the incident.

However, now Coppola has spoken to the press regarding the robbery. It turns out the computers did have some very significant items on them, including personal and family photographs, reportedly all those of his life, as well as all of his writings from the past 15 years. It would seem like an odd place to keep such personal belongings, but considering Tetro is partially autobiographical, it makes sense that the office would have access to items from Coppola's life. Of course, he probably should have only left copies of his life down in Argentina, but it's not fair to criticize his mistake at such a stressful moment. Coppola spoke on a local television station in Buenos Aires, mentioning that he would really, really like it if he could get his backup disk back. He claims it would save him years of work if he could have the lost files returned. He also stated that he would be moving the Zoetrope office out of its Palermo location and into another safer neighborhood. We'll have to wait and see if the incident has disrupted plans for Tetro's filming.

The Godfather. The Conversation. The Godfather Part II. Apocalypse Now. Francis Ford Coppola has so many classic American movies in his filmography, he could direct, say, a movie about reverse aging starring Robin Williams and Fran Drescher and not lose his position among our greatest directors. Coppola hasn't made a movie since 1997's undervalued The Rainmaker, but recently he's been on a roll. We've been bringing you news on his new film, Youth Without Youth, for a year now. Most recently, Monika told you that Tom Cruise might be helping to distribute the low-budget film, which stars Tim Roth and has been described as "an arty Raiders of the Lost Ark." His Tetro, with Matt Dillon, is in pre-production and sounds like perfect material for Coppola, as it "follows the rivalries of an artistic Italian immigrant family." But what of his long-rumored sci-fi epic Megalopolis?

In a new interview with aintitcool, Coppola says he did his three 90's studio pictures -- Bram Stoker's Dracula, Jack, and The Rainmaker -- to get out of debt and to do make Megalopolis happen. He went to New York, did tests, and even started meeting with actors. Things started moving on it, and then September 11th happened. Says Coppola, "It made it really pretty tough... a movie about the aspiration of utopia with New York as a main character and then all of a sudden you couldn't write about New York without just dealing with what happened and the implications of what happened. The world was attacked and I didn't know how to try to do with that. I tried." Coppola doesn't totally rule out the possibility of doing Megalopolis in the future, but for now the chances aren't looking great. "I have abandoned that as of now. I'm now going to...I plan to begin a process of making one personal movie after another and if something leads me back to look at that, which I'm sure it might, I'll see what makes sense to me." So it looks like we can put aside our hopes of seeing Megalopolis any time soon, but just knowing we've got more Coppola to look forward to softens the blow for me.