Isla Fisher in talks to pull ‘The Switch’

“Bachelorette” star Isla Fisher is in talks to join John Hawkes and Jennifer Aniston in writer-director Dan Schechter’s untitled adaptation of Elmore Leonard’s 1978 novel “The Switch.”

Crime drama, which will serve as a prequel to Quentin Tarantino’s “Jackie Brown,” stars Hawkes and Yasiin Bey (formerly Mos Def) as younger versions of Robert De Niro and Samuel L. Jackson’s respective characters Louis Gara and Ordell Robbie, who also appear in Leonard’s novel “Rum Punch.”

Set 15 years before the events in “Jackie Brown,” story follows career criminals Ordell and Louis as they team up to kidnap Mickey Dawson (Aniston), the wife of a corrupt Detroit real estate developer. When the husband refuses to pay the ransom for his wife’s return, the ex-cons are forced to reconceive their plan, and the angry housewife uses the duo to get her revenge.

Should a deal make, Fisher would play Melanie, the same character played by Bridget Fonda in “Jackie Brown.” As the kidnapping and subsequent blackmail unravels, the loyalty-free, manipulative Melanie begins to interfere in subtle and unpredictable ways.

Ty Burrell is attached to co-star as a witness to Aniston’s kidnapping, while Dennis Quaid has exited the project due to scheduling conflicts with his CBS series “Vegas.”

The Gotham Group’s Ellen Goldsmith-Vein and Lee Stollman are producing with Michael Siegel and Leonard, while Jim Garavente will exec produce. Production is now tentatively skedded to start in February.

Fisher, who voices the female lead in DreamWorks Animation’s “Rise of the Guardians,” will next be seen in Summit’s magician heist pic “Now You See Me” and as Myrtle Wilson in Baz Luhrmann’s “The Great Gatsby,” which Warner Bros. opens in 3D on May 10.

Fisher is repped by CAA, Mosaic, Shanahan Management and attorney Warren Dern.

- Variety

Isla Fisher Making ‘The Switch’ To ‘Jackie Brown’ Prequel

Let’s straighten some things out. Quentin Tarantino’s 1997 film “Jackie Brown” — which starred Robert De Niro and Samuel L. Jackson — was based on Elmore Leonard’s 1992 novel “Rum Punch.” Now first time filmmaker Dan Schechter is mounting an adaptation of Leonard’s 1978 novel “The Switch,” which follows younger versions of the characters portrayed by De Niro and Jackson, who will now be portrayed by in their youth by John Hawkes and Yasiin Bey (aka Mos Def). Got it? Good. Isla Fisher is the latest actor in talks to join what will essentially be a prequel to Tarantino’s film.

The untitled movie will follow Ordell and Louis (Hawkes and Bey) as they kidnap a corrupt Detroit real estate developer’s wife (to be played by Jennifer Aniston). Their plan is complicated when the husband refuses to pay a ransom for the safe return of his wife.

Fisher would play Melanie, the same role Bridget Fonda played in “Jackie Brown,” which is weird since Fisher is now older than Fonda was when she played the role in 1997. Then again, Hawkes is only a year younger than De Niro was during the filming of Tarantino’s film. Ty Burrell co-stars as witness to the kidnapping and Dennis Quaid, who was in talks to join, has dropped out due to his conflicting schedule with his new CBS series “Vegas.”

At the very least Elmore Leonard fans will have another adaptation to watch and “The Switch” could turn out to be an interesting companion piece to “Jackie Brown.”

- Indie Wire