Thornton Fathers Bentley, Russell Is Plagued

February 21 -- Wes Bentley and Billy Bob Thornton are taking over a dysfunctional father-son story once intended for Sean Penn and Robert De Niro. The film Monster's Ball is about Hank (Thornton), who lives with his racist older father and his son, Sonny (Bentley).

Complications ensue at the local prison where both Hank and Sonny work when Hank falls in love with the widow of an executed prisoner. The phrase "tragic end" was employed in the trade write-up of the casting deal; that's no surprise, since Penn was once attached to direct the film.

Marc Forster, whose film Everything Put Together is nominated for an Independent Spirit Award, is now attached to direct. The deals for Thornton and Bentley have not yet been finalized, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Penn and De Niro previously teamed up on a prison film of a far different tone — the comedy We're No Angels.

Russell-Ellroy Project Finally RollingKurt Russell turned down the role of a kinky cop in Basic Instinct 2, but he'll still get to walk a beat in The Plague Season for director Ron Shelton.

L.A. Confidential novelist James Ellroy penned the script eight years ago with Russell in mind as the lead, Variety reports. It's the author's first original script written directly for the screen. David Ayer (Training Day) has since done a rewrite, according to Variety.

Since it's from Ellroy's pen, it's naturally set in the real-life world of police corruption in Los Angeles. The Plague Season refers to the week leading up to the 1992 L.A. riots that were a reaction to the acquittal of the cops who savagely beat motorist Rodney King.

Russell leads the cast as a seasoned L.A. detective; three other prominent cop roles have yet to be cast. At one point, Ben Affleck was attached to the script, but he has since dropped out.

Shelton was going to reteam with his Bull Durham star Kevin Costner (who is also Russell's co-star in this weekend's 3,000 Miles to Graceland) in another cop drama, Two Guys on the Job, but that project is now on hold because of the potential actors' strike.