Raging Bull II Now Filming, Is Really Happening

Last April came the out-of-nowhere casting calls, but now you'll have to come to terms with the fact that Raging Bull II — a prequel and sequel to the Martin Scorsese film, with William Forsythe in the role made famous by Robert De Niro — has actually begun filming. Variety reports: "[Forsythe] stars as boxing champ Jake LaMotta in his older years with newcomer Mojean Aria playing the younger version of the character made famous by Robert De Niro in Martin Scorsese's 1980 classic Raging Bull." William Forsythe as Jake LaMotta. Yep. It's happening.

Directed by Martin Guigui (from a script co-written with Rustam Branaman), Raging Bull II takes its inspiration from real life pugilist LaMotta's book, and no — Scorsese isn't involved. As if. Filming is now in progress in Los Angeles, with an interesting supporting cast that includes Joe Mantegna, Tom Sizemore, Penelope Ann Miller, Natasha Henstridge, Alicia Witt, Ray Wise, Harry Hamlin, Bill Bellamy and James Russo, though cast member Juliet Landau, Tweeting a photo of herself in costume as a starlet who has an affair with LaMotta, described many of theirs as cameo appearances.

The film purports to tell LaMotta's story "'before the rage' and 'after the rage,'" and while it's tough to guess just how this revisiting of LaMotta's life will turn out, Witt did Tweet a photo of herself on set last week:

Meanwhile, Twilight's Alex Meraz also has a role — as a character named Paco — and recently shared what could be his curly-haired look for the film. Draw your own conclusions:

[via Variety]