While he may not have the pull of a bigger named director, Alexander Payne sure as hell will try to pull his weight to get one of the greatest actors around to jump back into the game.

Vulture is reporting that Payne is set to shoot his upcoming film, Nebraska, in black and white, but must cut his budget to $10 million, and find a big name to grab the lead role.  Who does he have his eye on? Amongst a list including the likes of Jack Nicholson and Robert Duvall is the one and only Gene Hackman.

Now, the long-retired actor isn’t attached to the film in any shape or form, but it is an interesting idea, if only because it has been almost a decade since we last saw him in 2004’s Welcome To Mooseport.  He was one of the better actors of his generation, and if there is ever going to be a project to come back with, it’s this father-son road trip flick.  Casey Affleck and Robert Forster have been attached, but at this point, that all appears to be up in the air.

Personally, I hope this happens, but the likelihood of this is still very low.  That won’t stop this writer from keeping his fingers crossed, however.

What do you think?

[Source: Vulture]