If you’re looking for the inside scoop on what Quentin Tarantino’s next project might be, this news story won’t shed any light on that particular topic. However, if you’re a fan of his 1997 film Jackie Brown, you’ll probably still be interested to hear that some of the characters from that film are coming back to the big screen in a new movie called The Switch (no, not the Jennifer Aniston / Jason Bateman rom-com).

Jackie Brown was based on Elmore Leonard’s novel Rum Punch, and two of the main characters are gunrunner Ordell Robbie (played by Samuel L. Jackson), and his right-hand man, Louis Gara (Robert De Niro). The prequel will be based on Leonard’s 1978 novel The Switch, which tells the story of how these two characters met in prison, and hatched a scheme to kidnap a rich man’s wife and hold her for ransom money. Of course, Jackson and DeNiro will not be reprising their roles, but will instead be replaced by a younger pair of actors.

As previously mentioned, Tarantino will have no involvement in this project. Instead, the script is being written by Dan Schechter (Goodbye Baby) and Elmore Leonard is on board as executive producer, but a director has yet to sign on. Although a number of Leonard’s novels have been turned into movies, the results have been mixed. I would love to see this one get a decent adaptation, but one possible bad omen is the fact that it is being produced by Michael Siegel, the same guy who did the much maligned Be Cool. Does The Switch sounds like it has potential? What’s your favourite Elmore Leonard movie?