Jack Black& Shirley MacClaine Join Richard Linklater's 'Bernie'« FirstShowing.net

It seems like the past few years have seen directorRichard Linklaterbeing"dazed and confused"by the shelving ofThat's What I'm Talking About(his unofficial sequel toDazed and Confused) andLiars A-E, a story following some girls on a road trip to President Obama's inauguration. But now it looks like Linklater may finally have a follow-up toMe and Orson Welles, the drama ambitiously led by Zac Efron. A month ago, Linklater revealed he was working on aFargo-esque true crime story calledBernie. Now an extras casting call fromShort Film Texas(viaBleedingCool) revealsJack BlackandShirley MacClainewill be starring.

Linklater'sBernieis a dark comedy about a fussy, but beloved assistant funeral home director as well as the town’s domineering"grande dame"who just happens to be a very rich 81 year-old widow. But I'll letTexas Monthlyexplain why this relationship goes awry and why this project sounds quite interesting:

This past August, however, Carthage captured the attention of the entire country when the news broke that the town's richest and snootiest widow, 81-year-old Mrs. Marjorie Nugent, had been found in the bottom of a large freezer in her home. What made the story peculiar was that Mrs. Nugent had been dead for almost nine months before people began searching for her. What made the story truly bizarre was the way many of the townspeople rallied around the 39-year-old man who had admitted to killing her and stealing her money— the soft-spoken, chubby-cheeked Bernie Tiede, the former assistant funeral director at Hawthorn Funeral Home who had gotten close to Mrs. Nugent when he supervised her husband's funeral.

Frankly I'm surprised the Coen Brothers didn't grab this story but there you have it. If anything, this is good news simply because Linklater is getting back in the director's chair, not to mention that the director worked wonders with Jack Black inSchool of Rock, a truly fantastic family comedy. This time around Black will have to be much more subtle and put on his big boy pants to star opposite the legendary Shirley MacClaine. As for the rest of the actors (including extras called for at Short Film Texas) Linklater says,"I’m trying to make as authentic a portrayal of small town East Texas life as possible, so I’m looking for the real deal –funnyandinterestingfolks."So check outthat casting call, and if you're from the area, maybe you could be an extra.

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