Norton is portraying twin brothers, one an Ivy League philosophy professor and the other a brilliant small-time marijuana grower. The professor is lured back to his Oklahoma hometown for a doomed scheme against a local drug lord (Dreyfuss) that unravels his life.

Sarandon plays the brothers' eccentric mother. Keri Russell is in negotiations to a love interest.

Nelson is playing a best friend to one of the brothers. Country singer Steve Earle and Lucy DeVito, daughter of Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman, also are in the cast.

Shooting is scheduled to begin September 22 in Shreveport, La.

Nelson wrote "Grass" with Norton in mind and showed it last year to the actor, who was not looking for a new project and put off reading the script. When Norton finally read it, at his grandmother's house while she was taking a nap, he was hooked.

"I called (Nelson) and said, 'You're right; it's great,"' Norton said during an informal news conference at the Toronto International Film Festival accompanied by Nelson and the film's producers. "There have been only a couple of times in my career that I've gone, 'That's exactly what I want to do.' It felt very complete."

Nu Image/Millennium Films will produce and finance the picture.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter -