Robert Altman Shocker

With a sackful of awards already thrown at Gosford Park and the possibility of some lovely golden Oscar statuettes certainly not ruled out, Robert Altman has decided not to bask in the glow of victory and has already lined up his next project. Voltage is a satirical comedy based on Robert Grossbach's novel A Shortage of Engineers. The story is set in the early nineties and concerns and engineering school graduate who goes to work for a military contractor. Faced with hopelessly tight deadlines, impossible tasks and superiors that wouldn't have looked out of place goose-stepping around Nuremburg, he and his quirky colleagues do their best to keep the production line rolling. Altman plans to set the film in suburban Long Island and has lined up a cast almost as impressive as the acting elite that graced his lens for Gosford Park. Liv Tyler, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Steve Buscemi, Joaquin Phoenix, William H Macy, Tony Shalhoub, and Harry Belafonte are all set to join the ensemble cast for a shoot that begins in May.