Warren Beatty's secret project is a Howard Hughes movie; Alec Baldwin, Jack Nicholson, Andrew Garfield to star?

Just a couple of days ago we learned that Warren Beatty was putting together some sort of comedy film for Paramount, which would see him returning to the writing/directing bit for the first time since 1998. It would also mark his return to acting since  2001's Town and Country, but nobody knew what the film would actually be. Showbiz411 was the first to get the scoop, and it looks like Beatty is putting together a potentially huge project centered around reclusive millionaire Howard Hughes.

It's been about seven years since the last great Hughes film, Martin Scorsese's The Aviator(2007's The Hoax was ok), which I personally am still crazy about. Beatty's movie doesn't appear to be a straight up biopic, focusing on an affair he had later in life with a much younger woman. Beatty will play the older Hughes, and according to Deadline he's gathering a remarkable cast. Jack Nicholson, Andrew Garfield, Beatty's wife Annette Bening, Alec Baldwin, Evan Rachel Wood, Shia Labeouf, and Rooney Mara are all said to be meeting for roles right now. Supposedly the story will also take place partially in flashback, calling for someone to play a younger version of Hughes. That sounds like Garfield's bit already, doesn't it? It better not be Labeouf, that's all I'm going to say. Doesn't really sound like a comedy, does it?

Beatty's been planning this film for more than two decades, with a script having been hammered out by his Ishtar colleague, Elaine May. I'm assuming some rewrites will be in order it having sat on the shelf for so long, but this is definitely sounding like a film to watch.