Beaks here...

Awards Daily's Sasha Stone had this the other day, but now Variety is confirming that Javier Bardem is set to star in Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's BIUTIFUL. Plot details are sketchy at the moment, but, according to the trades, it's about "a man embroiled in shady dealings who is confronted by a childhood friend, now a policeman". Knowing Inarritu, I'm expecting lots of laughs.

BIUTIFUL will be Inarritu's first feature without screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga, who parted ways with the director after a rather heated credit squabble over BABEL. Arriaga already made his feature directing debut with THE BURNING PLAIN, which drew mixed reviews at this year's Venice and Toronto film festivals. Though I'd hate to think that there's a bitter competitiveness between the two, I'm sure Inarritu would be immensely satisfied to score a critical success his first time out as a solo screenwriter (especially since there are those who believe that neither man can fully function artistically without the other).

According to the Awards Daily story, BIUTIFUL will at least reunite Inarritu with cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto and Academy Award-winning composer Gustavo Santaolalla. The film will also be co-produced by Cha Cha Cha, the Universal-based shingle headed by Inarritu, Alfonso Cuaron and Guillermo del Toro.