Fusing together a cast for his first full-length feature helming gig since "Pulp Fiction," Quentin Tarantino and his partner, producer Lawrence Bender, are in final negotiations with Samuel L. Jackson, '70s icon Pam Grier and Bridget Fonda to star in "Jackie Brown" for Miramax.
While the trio is still in negotiations, sources close to the project said that since the film is expected to begin lensing next month, deals should be finalized soon. Tarantino will take the helm of the crime comedy from his own adaptation of the Elmore Leonard novel "Rum Punch." Neither Miramax nor reps for the actors would confirm the negotiations.
The storyline of the film centers around a hooker (Grier) and a burned-out bail bondsman (Jackson) who team up to evade the Feds and double-cross a band of crooks en route to an arms dealer's hidden loot.
Pic is to be produced by Tarantino and Bender, under their A Band Apart production banner.
In a departure from Leonard's novel, which is set in South Florida and the Bahamas, Tarantino places the action, and will shoot the film, in the South Bay section of L.A. where he was raised.
Jackson's casting would reteam Tarantino and the thesp who co-starred in the helmer's 1994 hit "Pulp Fiction" --- for which Jackson received a best supporting actor Oscar nom for his role as the hit man Jules.
Tarantino reportedly has longed to work with Grier, the former queen of blaxploitation pics. It's speculated that with this role Grier's career could get the power surge that John Travolta gleaned from "Pulp Fiction."
Fonda, a veteran of such films as "Single White Female," "Singles" and "Scandal," is currently on screen in "Touch."
According to sources, Sylvester Stallone also has expressed interest in one of the film's roles.
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