The movie version of Chuck Palahniuk’s novel Choke is pushing forward. The Hollywood Reporter has just gotten around to reporting the news we brought you two months ago, confirming that yes indeed, Sam Rockwell will star in the film. In addition to Rockwell, Anjelica Huston has now joined the cast.

Rockwell plays Victor, a sex addict, Colonial War re-enactor, and con man who rips off people to pay for his mother’s care at a mental hospital. Anjelica Huston will play his mentally deranged mother. Victor’s scam is to go into restaurants and then force himself to choke on his food midway through the meal. When someone comes over to save his life, he keeps a record of their name and address. Having now weeded out the good Samaritans from the cynics, he then sends them letters about fictitious financial troubles and invariably they feel sorry for him and send him money.

The movie is a satirical dark comedy, pretty different in tone from Hollywood’s most famous Palahniuk adaptation Fight Club. In fact, director Clark Gregg goes so far as to call it a romantic comedy. “Choke” is one of the few Palahniuk books I haven’t read, but I have a hard time imagining him writing a rom-com.