“Ten years have passed since Happiness, but I prefer not to be beholden to the literalness of time or circumstance. I like to tweak things, get at stuff from a fresh angle, and so, for example, some characters have aged five years, some twenty years, some histories have been altered, and I have allowed race not to be something set in stone. Of course, it’s a completely different cast. It’s more fun and interesting that way.”

So says Todd Solondz, in reference to his highly-anticipated sort-of sequel to Happiness. Formerly titled Life During Wartime, The Playlist passes along word that the film is now being called Forgiveness, and that Fortissimo Films has acquired worldwide sales rights. Fortissimo were initially on board to fund the film, back when it was first announced in 2006 at Cannes.

In November, we learned a few casting details, including that  The Wire’s Michael Kenneth Williams would be playing the part originally played by Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Paul Reubens would be taking over for Jon Lovitz. The film’s IMDb profile has been expanded a bit, and it looks like Ally Sheedy is taking Lara Flynn Boyle’s Happiness Part, and Allison Janney is taking over the role of “Trish” for Cynthia Stevenson.

The Playlist discovered a long synopsis for the film with character names matched up to actor names, and he presumes that Hilton’s role must be “small if they mention eleven actors and not even a peep of her.” But I had another thought: what if the producers are just carefully guarding the film’s biggest casting joke?

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