The cast is now set for Spike Lee's INSIDE MAN. Already announced were Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, Jodie Foster, and Willem Dafoe. Joining them will Chiwetel Ejiofor, Christopher Plummer, Peter Gerety, Peter Frechette, Jason Manuel Olazabal, Darryl 'Chill" Mitchell, and Ashlie Atkinson. Shooting will begin on June 27in Brooklyn's Steiner Studios, a $118 million soundstage facility located at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The project is slated to shoot for 42 days. INSIDE MAN takes places during a hostage situation in which a tough cop matches wits a clever bank robber, who sets to pull the the perfect heist.

Washington stars as New York police detective Keith Miller, a tough, street-smart cop fighting for a promotion while trying to live down accusations of misconduct connected to his last case. When he and his partner are dispatched to the scene of an in-progress bank robbery and hostage crisis, Miller must face off against a well-educated criminal (Owen) masterminding a concisely plotted operation. As negotiations grow more strained, a powerful lawyer with mysterious ties (Foster) becomes involved in the crisis... and Miller slowly begins to realize that in this ultimate game of cat and mouse, rules are arbitrary, all roles are up for grabs and the black-and-white of right an wrong has blurred to a shadowy landscape of gray.

Dafoe will be playing the role of a police captain while Ejiofor plays a detective in the film. Russell Gerwitz and Menno Meyjes are the screenwriters. Brian Grazer (A Beautiful Mind, Cinderella Man) will be producing the film, and Universal Pictures will distribute the film March 24, 2006.