Great Day For Movie Lovers: Martin Scorsese and 5 Other Singular Directors Announce New Projects

Somewhere in between false rumors about an Olivia Wilde Tomb Raider reboot and hopefully untrue speculation about another Terminator sequel, six interesting directors including Martin Scorsese, Richard Kelly and Kimberly Pierce announced new projects today. Thanks, movie-news Gods! Granted, not all of these projects will necessarily turn out well (or even at all), but if past work is any indication, the ones that crash and burn will at least do so in a unique, fascinating and hopefully spectacular fashion (Looking at you, Kelly...). Click through for a rundown and place bets on your favorites.

Director: Martin Scorsese

The Film: Silence

The Rundown: An adaptation of Shusaku Endo's drama about the persecution of 17th century Jesuit priests who travel to Japan to locate their mentor and preach the word. Daniel Day-Lewis, Benicio Del Toro and Gael Garcia Bernal are set to star. Awesome! And while it won't be his next project, he will apparently he will also make a film called The Wolf of Wall Street with Leonardo DiCaprio about based on the autobiography of Wall Street stockbroker Jordan Belfort. No definite word on where this news leaves that nostalgia junkie wet dream project The Irishman which would reunite the director with Joe Pesci, Robert De Niro and Harvey Keitel? [The Playlist]

Director: Apichatpong Weerasethakul

The Film: Mekong Hotel

The Rundown: The details are very vague, but honestly, anyone familiar with the work of Palme D'or winner Weerasethakul (Syndromes and a Century, Uncle Boonmee who Can Recall His Past Lives) knows two things: One, explaining the storyline is probably a fool's mission and Two, whatever he makes will probably be mind-blowing and awesome. And this one might potentially star Tilda Swinton? Sign me up. [The Playlist]

The Director: Richard Kelly

The Film: Corpus Christi

The Rundown: This one is apparently a thriller about "a mentally unstable Iraq war veteran, who forges a strange friendship with his boss, a wealthy and politically ambitious owner of a supermarket chain." The countdown until more plot details emerge about time travel, cloning and metaphysics starts now. [Variety]

The Director: Kimberly Peirce

The Film: The Knife

The Rundown: After tackling small-town gender confusion and prejudice in Boys Don't Cry and Iraq war trauma in Stop-Loss, do you think Peirce is going to give herself a break and take some for-hire project with easy financing? Not a chance! She and the producers spent four months working for free to get this project off the ground. Let's hope it's slightly smoother sailing from here because the film sounds interesting: Based on a true story, the film will follow a South Central gang member who becomes an FBI informant. After collaborating with the FBI on a number of huge busts, the take-no-prisoners response of the gang world puts his life in danger. [Deadline]

The Director: Michel Gondry

The Film: Ubik

The Rundown: Still in early stages and not totally confirmed, but interesting nonetheless: Gondry says he is working on an adaptation of this famous Philip K. Dick novel about telepathic spying, the moon and paranormal activity. This sounds a bit more up his alley than The Green Hornet, but also with more potential to completely fly off the rails. [The Playlist]

The Director: Abbas Kiarostami

The Film: The End

The Rundown: The Iranian auteur responsible for Close up and last year's Certified Copy ventures even further from his native land for a contemporary relationship drama set in Japan. Aoi Miyazaki will star. If his past work is any indication, the film will be much more interesting than the synopsis suggests. [J Film Pow Wow]