Brad Pitt can now be called a bastard with pride. According to Variety, Pitt has officially signed on to play the lead in Quentin Tarantino's new film, Inglorious Bastards.

Pitt will play a backwoods Tennessee soldier who forms a team of eight Jewish-American soldiers. Tarantino has already cast filmmaker Eli Roth for one of the roles, and it is said that casting will be complete in a matter of weeks.

Also, Simon Pegg, David Krumholtz and Natasha Kinski are in negotiations to join the cast as well. Pegg would play a British lieutenant, Krumholtz will play a soldier under Pitt's character and Kinski would play a German movie star. It was also said that Tarantino mainstay Tim Roth was said to be up for a role, but there were scheduling conflicts with his new television series, Lie to Me.

The film will commence production on October 13 in Germany and Tarantino is aiming to finish the film in time for next year's Cannes Film Festival.

Inglourious Basterds was released August 21st, 2009 and stars Brad Pitt, Mélanie Laurent, Christoph Waltz, Eli Roth, Michael Fassbender, Diane Kruger, Daniel Brühl, Til Schweiger. The film is directed by Quentin Tarantino.