The Death and Life Of Bobby Z (cliche title, I know) has undergone some major adjustments recently. Doug Aarniokoski has been replaced by director John Herzfeld, who brought us the disasterous film 15 minutes. And in better news, king-of-cool Laurence Fishburne has joined the cast.

According to Variety, the movie is about a pathetic bum who cops a plea, requiring him to pose as famed surfer-drug dealer Bobby Z in a hostage swap with a Mexican drug lord. Naturally, the feds' plan goes horribly wrong, and the poser escapes, taking the real 6-year-old son of Bobby Z with him. Oops.

Bobby Z is budgeted at a whopping $23 million, which is nothing more than pocket change for Hollywood studios. Bob Krakower and Allan Lawrence are adapting the screenplay from the first Don Winslow novel titled "A Cool Breeze On The Underground".

The cat-and-mouse chase will go into production in the near future. In the meantime you can catch Fishburne in Mission:Impossible 3, assuming the mere sight of Tom Cruise doesn't send you into convulsions.