Dillon's king is dead. Adrien Brody wins CHESS!

I knew it was too good to be true when I reported in October that the often wasted talent of Matt Dillon had actually find himself in another project (he's doing some movies with Coppola which are positive signs) that would challenge him and maybe inspire the actor that we all remember used to reside within him. That project was CADILLAC RECORDS, a Sony BMG film where Dillon was set to play Leonard Chess, the guy who created the "Chess Records" music label that birthed the careers of such figures as R & B legends Muddy Watters, Etta James and Chuck Berry. Now comes word from Variety that the role has gone to Adrien Brody, with no reason given as to why Dillon got replaced, though it would seem likely it's down to scheduling conflicts on Coppola's TETRO.

Brody is an actor I am quite fond of and he already has a 50's style persona to his acting which would make him better suited to the role than Dillon even if I was looking forward to seeing Dillon put in some good work again. Still, he's got TETRO upcoming and Brody will be more suited to this flick in any case. The trade mention that Jeffrey Wright is still on board as Waters which is just terrific news. Darnell Martin (Law & Order) has wrote the screenplay and will direct the piece starting in March, with New Jersey and Missisippi providing the locations. Musical biopics have been pretty strong for a while now and I wonder who might turn up for cameo's in this feature. Will Elvis or Berry make their presence known and if so, who should play them?