Alexander Payne to Direct 'The Judge's Will'; Doug Liman Boards 'Narco Sub'

Alexander Payne waited seven years between his wine-drinking comedy Sideways and The Descendants, but lately he's been making up for lost time. His latest film Nebraska hits theaters in a few weeks, and now Payne has already lined up his next project, which should be another exploration of familial relationships set in an exotic locale.

Deadline reports that Payne will direct The Judge's Will, based on the final New Yorker story by the late Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, writer of Howard's End and The Remains of the Day. The story follows an aging Delhi judge with a young wife and younger Bombay mistress who seeks to provide for them both as his death draws near. It''s familiar ground for Payne, whose Nebraska covers similar territory of an aging patriarch and a young family member. This one could be early on as there's nothing on a screenwriter just yet, but don't be surprised if Payne takes a crack at it himself or at least plays a part in the writing process. 

As Payne appears to be stepping up his productivity of late, Doug Liman has always had a number of projects on the table. With no less than a half-dozen potential films in various stages of development, including the recently wrapped Edge of Tomorrow with Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt, the director is now considering one more. He's in early talks to direct Narco Sub, a film that was left behind after Tony Scott's untimely death last year. Details about it are few, but we know that the script by David Guggenheim (Safe House) deals with the world of illegal narcotics and the submersible vehicles South American drug cartels use to smuggle drugs into the U.S. [TheWrap]