Two producers looking to get out of financial straits by concocting a scheme around a new project? It sounds like someone trying to remake The Producers, but while George Gallo's new film is a remake, it's actually based on 1980s comedy The Comeback Trail. Zach Braff is the latest recruit for the film.
This new movie, which will carry the same name, finds Robert De Niro and Braff as producers who are in serious debt to a mob boss (Morgan Freeman). Desperate for a way out of their troubles, they cook up an idea to cast a suicidal, washed-up old movie star called Duke Montana (Tommy Lee Jones, clearly sanctioning some level of buffoonery here) in a poorly written new Western. With Duke insured to the hilt, the aim is to throw him into dangerous situations on set and then reap the payout. Somehow, though, he rises to the occasion and brings the producers along with him.
Gallo worked with Josh Posner to write the adaptation of Harry Hurwitz's 1982 original, and also has James Marsden and Eddie Griffin in the cast. The cameras will be rolling this June in New Mexico.
Braff most recently worked on indie drama Percy and directed short film In The Time It Takes To Get There.
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