Anyone want a prequel to Jackie Brown, but without the involvement of Quentin Tarantino? Well, we’re getting one as Variety reports that actors John Hawkes and Yasiin Bey (formerly known as Mos Def) have signed on to star in Switch, a prequel to the Elmore Leonard book.

Robert De Niro played ex-con Louis Gara in Jackie Brown, with Samuel L. Jackson as low-rent arms dealer Ordell Robbie. Switch is set 15 years before the events of Jackie Brown, with Louis Gara (Hawkes) and Ordell Robbie (Bey) pairing up to kidnap Mickey Dawson, the wife of a Detroit real estate tycoon. Things don’t go according to plan, as the husband refuses to pay up and so the wife ends up using the criminals to get revenge.

Daniel Schechter is set to direct from his own screenplay. Schechter made the risky move of adapting the novel on spec, without acquiring the rights to Elmore Leonard’s book beforehand. However, after sending his finished script to the author, Leonard granted the director rights to his novel, and will produce the adaptation. Production is scheduled to begin in May.