Source:The Hollywood Reporter

July 3, 2008

Val Kilmer, Fairuza Balk, Jennifer Coolidge, Vondie Curtis Hall, Shawn Hatosy, Denzel Whitaker and Xzibit are joining Nicolas Cage and Eva Mendes in Werner Herzog's cop drama Bad Lieutenant, says The Hollywood Reporter.

Shea Wigham, Katie Chonacas (Righteous Kill) and Brad Dourif also are among those who will appear in the update of Abel Ferrara's cult classic.

The original followed the depraved adventures of a corrupt policeman (Harvey Keitel) investigating the rape of a nun. The new film will feature Cage as the titular crooked cop and capture the spirit of the original, with the protagonist's drug intake, accepting sexual favors as bribes and other elements that endeared so many to the 1992 version.

The new film will feature Kilmer as Cage's partner, while Xzibit will play a villain.

The original's producer, Edward R. Pressman, will produce the new version with Stephen Belafonte, Alan Polsky and Gabe Polsky. Billy Finkelstein wrote the screenplay, loosely based on Ferrara and Zoe Lund's script.

Nu Image/Millennium's project will feature the company's Avi Lerner, Danny Dimbort, Trevor Short and Boaz Davidson as executive producers, along with Elliot Rosenblatt and Alessandro Camon. Randall Emmett and Cage's Saturn Films also produce. Filming is set to begin later in the summer.