Billy Bob Thornton and Alfred Molina join Tina Fey’s Taliban comedy

By Sam Barsanti | February 12, 2015 | 1:41am

Aux Features Film

After how smooth the release of James Franco and Seth Rogen’s The Interview was, it’s hardly surprising that more studios are getting in on the “weird political comedy” game. One such weird political comedy is Tina Fey’s untitled comedy about the war in Afghanistan, based on Kim Barker’s memoir, The Taliban Shuffle. We’ve already reported that Martin Freeman is set to play Fey’s character’s boyfriend, and now The Wrap says that he’ll be joined by Billy Bob Thornton—the Tom Petty of acting—and Alfred Molina.

We don’t know anything about the characters that Thornton and Molina will be playing, but given their acting talents, we’d say they’re both a lock for a couple of Taliban big shots. After all, they’re both likable guys (well…) who have played interesting villains in the past. It’ll be especially interesting if Molina’s character has Doctor Octopus arms, but we’re not sure if anybody in the Taliban has those in real life. They probably don’t.