Comic-Con: Russell joins Grindhouse

Quentin Tarantino has cast Kurt Russell as the lead in Death Proof, his slasher segment of the Grindhouse horror double bill he is preparing with Robert Rodriguez.

It's about time Russell rolled up his sleeves again and reprised the kind of hardcore roles he played in The Thing, Escape From New York and Deep Blue. He's been getting a wee bit soft around the edges with recent fare such as Dreamer and Sky High, and there's nothing like an injection of Tarantino-concocted uber-violence to get him back on track.

Tarantino announced the news at a special presentation at Comic-Con in San Diego, and said he will begin shooting in August in Austin, Texas. Rodriguez has already started filming his contribution, the zombie story Planet Terror.

Russell joins a cast that includes Rosario Dawson and, er, Josh Brolin. Grindhouse will be released by the Weinstein Company's Dimension Films label in April 2007.