There Are Only So Many Funny ‘Bastard’ Headlines, Brad Pitt and Simon Pegg

Bastard Season: Once again the whispers of rumor have beaten “actual facts� to the punch; as expected, Brad Pitt officially joins the cast of Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Bastards as Lieutenant Aldo Raine, the leader who takes his men on their quest for vengeance. Simon Pegg joins him as a British lieutenant, with Numbthers’ David Krumholtz and Nastassja Kinski circling the project as well. All this news and still we wait with bated breath for updates on The Jew-Hunter, and whether the fairy-tale story of California’s governor will take a bizarre and unexpected turn as Arnold takes the part and makes all our dreams come true. [HR]

Press R2 to Kiss Freido: After the success of their Godfather video game, Electronic Arts is developing a Godfather II game that will include the likenesses of every major character except for fun-hating Al Pacino. The game will follow the fifties Michael plot while ignoring the Vito Corleone flashbacks, allowing players to freely roam around killing people in New York, Miami, and Havana. At last! A violent video game. [Variety]

Ratner Is a Wild Man: Carlos Coto (co-exec producer of 24) has partnered with Brett Ratner (director of movies with explosions) for an hour-long action-comedy pilot for Fox called Wild Boys. Series follows three ex-soldiers turned suburban dads who, after losing their jobs, become guns for hire and must balance family life with kicking ass. We never thought we’d see the day where Ratner was involved in something too awesome to make fun of. [Variety]

Gordon Gets Going: Columbia has tapped Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless — the writing team behind the upcoming Dracula Year Zero — to write their remake of Flash Gordon, the story of a dashing polo player who gets kidnapped, taken to space, and thrust into the middle of some dumb adventure. Stop teasing us with “plot� and “story� news, Columbia! What’s up with the theme song? [HR]

Patterson Gets a Ride: Columbia has optioned Maximum Ride, the best-selling young-adult series by James Patterson about teens whose DNA is 2 percent bird, giving them the power of flight. With Don Payne writing the script, Über-producer Avi Arad (Iron Man, Spider-Man) wants to play up “the elements of alienation and angst� to launch a superhero franchise. Looks like this James Patterson guy just might have a future. [Variety]