A Tarantino-less Jackie Brown Prequel? And what's this Dracula nonsense?

It can be argued that Quentin Tarantino's 1997 crime caper, Jackie Brown, is his most polarizing film to date. You either love it, or hate it. I hated it at the time but I must confess that I have seen it since then, and my tastes have changed dramatically. Might be time for a revisiting. Out of the clear blue sky comes this weird announcement that a prequel of sorts to the film is in effect, only Tarantino isn't involved.

Joblo is reporting that production has begun on The Switch, based on a novel by Elmore Leonard. It's a prequel because it offers the first meeting between Ordell Robbie and Louis Gara, who were portrayed by Samuel L. Jackson and Robert Deniro. The film ties directly into Leonard's novel, Rum Punch, which was the basis for Jackie Brown. The script will be written by Dan Schechter. No clue about him.

Tarantino has given his "blessing" for the film to take place. Does he own the rights or something? Then who cares about his blessing? No casting or director info at this point, but I doubt Jackson or Deniro will be involved. They'll likely play this as a standalone Leonard adaptation, using an all new cast. We shall see.

There's also a rumor floating around about Quentin Tarantino in Romania scouting locations for a possible Dracula film. It's all crap at this point, with some people hoping it'll star Christoph Waltz, others thinking he's scouting for the Inglourious Basterds spinoff already. Me, I think he's looking to shock everyone by announcing his next project is the much anticipated Transylmania sequel.