Moving on from the Daniel Clowes plagiarism controversy, Shia LaBeouf has signed on to join Bill Murray and Bruce Willis in Barry Levinson’s comedy “Rock the Kasbah,” which has also added Danny McBride, Zooey Deschanel and Kate Hudson to its ensemble cast, it was announced Thursday.
Written by Mitch Glazer, “Rock the Kasbah” follows Richie Vance, a has-been rock manager who takes his last remaining client on a USO tour of Afghanistan. When Richie finds himself in Kabul, abandoned, penniless and without his passport, he discovers a young girl with an extraordinary voice and manages her through Afghanistan’s version of “American Idol”, the wildly popular “Afghan Star.”
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QED’s Bill Block, Venture Forth’s Jacob Pechenik, Shangri-La Entertainment’s Steve Bing and Glazer will produce the film, while Brian Grazer and Tom Freston will executive produce. Production will start in June.
“I couldn’t have dreamed of a more perfect team of comic actors to round out this wickedly funny and heartfelt film,” said Levinson.
QED will represent the film at the European Film Market in Berlin, where QED’s sales slate also includes Oren Moverman’s “Time Out of Mind” starring Richard Gere, Peter Billingsley’s “Term Life” starring Vince Vaughn and “The Family Fang,” which stars Jason Bateman and Nicole Kidman.