Tarantino’s ‘Basterds’ to Land on August 21st

Brad Pitt on the “Basterds” set. No doubt he’s pondering the negative effects on today’s youth of widely disseminated misspellings of words. 

According to Variety, Quentin Tarantino’s World War II action film, “Inglourious Basterds” will be released on August 21st. The film stars Brad Pitt, along with BJ Novak, Diane Kruger, Mike Myers, and Eli Roth, amongst others.

(By the way, “Inglourious Basterds” is the official spelling of the title according to Tarantino and The Weinstein Company. I am hoping that Tarantino has a damn fine reason for further corrupting the already weak spelling skills of English speakers everywhere. Though I don’t know if any reason is good enough for me. I’m angry with you, Tarantino.)

August is a weird time for a movie–that usually means it doesn’t have the studio’s faith to make it as a big summer blockbuster, but it doesn’t fit into the fall rush of prestige pictures. It could also, in this case, just mean that that’s the fastest Tarantino can get it done (though “fastest” isn’t usually a word that comes to mind when Tarantino is involved) and the studio wants to get it out as soon as possible. I’m not sure what else is out that weekend, but it probably can’t be really tough competition.

The film is a remake of a 1970s action film, but Tarantino’s script is supposed to bear only a cursory resemblance to the original. Here’s a synopsis from ComingSoon:

“Inglourious Basterds” begins in German-occupied France, where Shosanna Dreyfus (Mélanie Laurent) witnesses the execution of her family at the hand of Nazi Colonel Hans Landa (Waltz). Shosanna narrowly escapes and flees to Paris, where she forges a new identity as the owner and operator of a cinema.

Elsewhere in Europe, Lieutenant Aldo Raine (Pitt) organizes a group of Jewish soldiers to engage in targeted acts of retribution. Known to their enemy as “The Basterds,” Raine’s squad joins German actress and undercover agent Bridget Von Hammersmark (Kruger) on a mission to take down the leaders of The Third Reich. Fates converge under a cinema marquee, where Shosanna is poised to carry out a revenge plan of her own…

Okay, plan your calendars accordingly.