Charles Matthau’s upcoming adaptation of the Elmore Leonard novel Freaky Deaky was all set to be a star studded, A-list affair. First, it scooped up William H, Macy in a starring role. Solid, sturdy, that’s a good choice. Then it began filling out the ranks of its cast with big names put in supporting roles. Matt Dillon, Brendan Fraser, Craig Robinson, they were all on board, and it was looking like this could end up being a big hit like one of Leonard’s other page to screen adaptations, Get Shorty. But then, suddenly, the entire cast dropped out of the pic and were recast with names that are more, uh… B-list. Uh-oh, that can’t be a good sign.

Charles Matthau’s big screen adaptation of the Elmore Leonard novel Freaky Deaky has been hiring actors right and left to fill out some of its bigger roles. Being a Leonard novel, I’m sure you can imagine the complexity of the plot, and the amount of roles that need to be filled, so it’s encouraging that Matthau and his casting crew seems to be off to a good start. We already knew that everybody’s favorite actor William H. Macy has signed on to play a drunken, irresponsible movie mogul, and that saucy young dish Camilla Belle is attached to do something as well, but today there’s a trio of casting announcements that really put what this project is going to end up looking like in better perspective. The film’s plot involves two former political activists and bomb experts who intend to use their pyrotechnic expertise to intimidate and trick Macy’s character out of millions of dollars. One of the activists, Skip Gibbs, we now know will be played by Brendan Fraser. Matt Dillon has signed on to play Chris Mankowski, a bomb squad officer who stumbles on Fraser and company’s plot and therefore gets sucked into the whirlwind of nonsense that is an Elmore Leonard story. And lastly, Craig Robinson has been hired to play Donnell Lewis, a former Black Panther who has become the assistant to Macy’s character due to a newfound love of capitalism. All of these actors have their strengths, and it sounds to me like the roles [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

The master of the edgy, humorous, gritty thriller will see his work on the screen again. This time it’s his 1988 novel “Freaky Deaky” that’s been tapped for a screen adaptation