Tetro

The prospect of Francis Ford Coppola imposing a “sex change” on Javier Bardem had us a million ways of excited (and just a little faint) today — and then we read the fine print. It turns out the director decided during rehearsals for his upcoming film Tetro that a woman would be a better mentor to his title character, played by Vincent Gallo. “As I read and reread (the script),” Coppola told The Hollywood Reporter, “I felt that the interaction between the two characters would be far more intriguing if they were of the opposite sex.” Of course, the casting of Spanish actress Carmen Maura had nothing to do with Bardem reportedly “becoming unavailable” while keeping himself open for the Rob Marshall musical Nine, which shoots this fall. A similar scenario arose earlier in preproduction when Coppola, reportedly wanting to “go skeevy” with his lead, instinctively replaced Matt Dillon with Gallo. Either way, we think he’s earned the benefit of our doubt. [THR]