Harsh Times: According to Production Weekly, Christian Bale and Freddy Rodriguez will star in the independent film Harsh Times, a West Coast version of Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets, set in South Central Los Angeles.

David Ayer will make his feature directorial debut from his own original screenplay.

The script follows Mike Alvarez (Rodriguez) unemployed and looking for a job, and Jim David (Bale) who has just been accepted by the DEA to do his share of the dirty work in Columbia. A pair of hellraising beer-drinking screw-ups with time on their hands, they spend a few days riding around Los Angeles, causing trouble and leaving havoc in their wake -- until it catches up to them and the good times turn harsh.

The film will shoot in and around LA beginning in December.