Oscar-nommed Bill Murray to topline "Rock the Kasbah" comedy

PanARMENIAN.Net - Bill Murray will star in Rock the Kasbah, a comedy to be directed by Barry Levinson, The Hollywood Reporter said.

QED’s Bill Block, Venture Forth’s Jacob Pechenik and Shangri-La Entertainment’s Steve Bing will produce the project, which QED will introduce at the Toronto International Film Festival.

According to QED, Kasbah "is the story of a burned-out music manager who goes to Afghanistan on the USO tour with his last remaining client. When he finds himself abandoned, penniless and without his passport, he discovers a young girl with an extraordinary voice, who stows away with him back to Kabul to compete on the popular television show The Afghan Star, Afghanistan’s equivalent of American Idol."

"The movie sounds like a perfect Murray vehicle, quirky and odd, just like the comedian himself, who's known to engage in random hijinks just to keep life interesting. He most recently showed up to celebrate the 20th anniversary of David Letterman's "Late Show" dressed as Liberace.

After Scrooged, Murray starred opposite Glazer's wife, Kelly Lynch, in 2000's "Charlie's Angels" and he played the villain in Glazer's directorial debut, "Passion Play," in 2010. It's a wonder Glazer would reach out to Murray again considering the actor has been continually harassing him over Lynch's role in 1989's Road House.," Los Angeles Times Movies said.

Mitch Glazer, who wrote Murray’s 1988 comedy Scrooged, penned the script.

In QED’s announcement, Block called Murray and Levinson “the perfect team to capture the lunacy, heartbreak and hope of this story.”

At Toronto, the company will be selling Fading Gigolo, starring John Turturro and Woody Allen; Fanny, starring Richard Gere; Are We Officially Dating? starring Zac Efron; and two David Ayer movies, Sabotage and Fury.

Levinson was due to direct Black Mass, a crime drama starring Johnny Depp, but those plans fell apart when Depp backed out.