Vincent Gallo To Star In Alexandre Nahon’s ‘Don’t Shoot The Piano Player,’ Michael Rapaport In Talks To Join

At least in our eyes, any news on the enigma that is Vincent Gallo is good news. His performance as the titular, tortured artist in Francis Ford Coppola's "Tetro" was a welcome reminder just how much the talened writer/director/actor/musician has to offer and, while he's unfortunately already noted that his last effort behind the camera "Promises Written In The Water" isn't going to see a theatrical release anytime soon, he's recently been taking on interesting acting roles with Jerzy Skolimowski's "Essential Killing," a sure-to-be wacky part in "The Legend Of Kaspar Hauser" as well as an appearance in 'Twilight' actor Peter Facinelli's "Loosies."

Gallo now looks to have added another lead role to his plate, as Thompson On Hollywood reports he's set to star in Alexandre Nahon's adaptation of David Goodis' "Down There" — a novel previously adapted by Francois Truffaut as "Shoot The Piano Player" — with another multi-hyphenate, Michael Rapaport, also in talks to join.

Nahon, who was at Sundance for Julie Delpy's "2 Days In Paris," also scripted the adaptation, which follows a Hollywood composer who loses it all and winds up in a bar frequented by crooks. For Nahon' version, Gallo is set to star as the pianist with Rapaport being lined up for a gangster role. Interestingly, the path to production has evidently been a long road itself for Nahon, taking him all of five years and a private detective to uncover that the rights were held with Philadelphia bank, as part of the Goodis estate.

Surely, there's plenty of passion behind this if Nahon willing to go that far just to obtain the rights. The film will be pre-selling at next month's Berlin International Film Festival in preparation for a summer shoot in New York and Los Angeles.