Actors John Hawkes and Yasiin Bey (formerly known as Mos Def) have signed on to star in Switch, a prequel to the Elmore Leonard adaptation Jackie Brown.

Robert De Niro starred as the ex-con Louis Gara in Jackie Brown, with Samuel L. Jackson starring as the low-rent arms dealer Ordell Robbie. Switch is set 15 years before the events of Jackie Brown, where Louis Gara and Ordell Robbie pair up to kidnap Mickey Dawson, the wife of a Detroit real estate tycoon. Things don't go according to plan, though, when the husband refuses to pay up, and the wife ends up using the criminals to get revenge.

Daniel Schechter is directing Switch from his own screenplay, adapted from Elmore Leonard's novel. Daniel Schechter made a risky move in adapting the novel on spec, without acquiring the rights beforehand. However, after sending his finished script to the author, he granted the director rights to his novel, and will produce the adaptation.

Production is scheduled to begin in May.