In production: Farlanders

Farlanders

Release date: TBA, 2009 Budget: unknown

Director: Sam Mendes Actors: John Krasinski, Maya Rudolph, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Jeff Daniels Produced by: Big Beach Films, Neal Street and Edward Saxon Productions Filming location: Connecticut

There isn't as much info on 'Farlanders' as in our last 'In production' post about 'Bunraku,' but I'll work with what I've got here. 'Farlanders' is Sam Mendes' sixth movie since he made it big with 'American Beauty' in 1999. Yes, it's almost ten years since you first saw 'American Beauty,' which got no less than 5 Oscars.

In 'Farlanders' John Krasinski ('The Office') and Maya Rudolph ('Saturday Night Live') play a couple who travel trough the US in search for a quiet place to settle down. Maggie Gyllenhaal ('The Dark Knight') was just recently added to the cast and will play an artistic college professor and friend of Krasinski's character. The movie is mostly described as a 'relationship comedy' and it will be interesting to see what Sam Mendes does with the genre. Mendes other movies were all dramas -- unless you consider 'American Beauty' a comedy too.

You could draw some similarities between 'American Beauty' and 'Farlanders' though, since both focus on the so called American family. But 'Farlanders' will focus on a much younger family, where 'American Beauty' was more about a man in his 'male menopause.' Sam Mendes' new movie also isn't all about the troubles of marriage. The couple in 'Farlanders' is expecting a baby and want to find a place to raise a family. And with allround good guy John Krasinski, you would expect a rather uplifting story.

Sam Mendes is also getting ready to release his new drama 'Revolutionary Road' at the end of this year. This picture will feature 'Titanic' lovers Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. 'Farlanders' is currently being filmed in Connecticut and will be released somewhere in 2009.