In the works: New projects from Bong Joon-ho and Lars von Trier

Wednesday, February 27, 2008 | 4:14 PM

Director Bong Joon-ho, who last title was the awesome genre-quaking monster movie "The Host," has a new film in development (after international multi-director triptych "Tokyo!"). It will apparently be called "Mother" and will focus on a woman who tries to prove her son's innocence after he's accused of a terrible crime. [KFCC]

Lars von Trier claims that his next film won't be "Wasington," the follow-up to "Dogville" and "Manderlay":

Instead, his next feature is Antichrist, a "psychological thriller that evolves into a horror film". It features one man and one woman, yet to be cast, will be shot in Germany and in English this summer and deals with the favourite Von Trier topic of cruelty between the sexes: "You have to guess who is the Antichrist," says its producer, Meta Louise Foldager, mischievously. Von Trier is testing ways of manipulating the image in it. [Telegraph, hat tip to Anthony Kaufman]

Tucked into Brooke Hauser's interview with David Gordon Green at the LA Times: "He's also remaking Dario Argento's 'Suspiria,' a horror film about a coven of witches at a ballet school in Germany. It's all part of Green's plan to branch out into new territory." [LA Times]

Paul Dano heads from the bowling alley to the... mattress store? His next film, "Gigantic," will be a quirky rom-com in which he plays a mattress salesman who gets involved with a woman he meets in his store (Zooey Deschanel ). [Hollywood Reporter]

Lovers of the shakycam can rejoice — Jason Bourne will move efficiently and dizzyingly onward. According to E!, "Matt Damon and director Paul Greengrass have reportedly committed to add a fourth film to the critically acclaimed action franchise." [E! Online]

Acquired: "Transsiberian," the transit-borne thriller from "Next Stop Wonderland " director Bran Anderson, has been picked up by First Look Studios for a late summer release. The film, which stars Woody Harrelson, Emily Mortimer and Ben Kingsley, premiered at Sundance last month to solid reviews. [Variety]

Another Sundance title, and one I'd pegged to have gotten picked up much faster, has finally acquired distribution: "Sunshine Cleaning," the Amy Adams/Emily Blunt dramedy about sisters who hope to earn their way up a rung or two on the social ladder by starting a crime scene clean-up company, has gone to Overture Films for a release late this year or early next. The film had such strong aspirations to be this year's [title redacted] that, beyond its own title, it also features Alan Arkin as an irascible grandfather doling out love and inappropriate information to a young charge. [Variety]

"XXY," an Argentinean coming-of-age drama about a teenage hermaphrodite, has been picked up by Film Movement to open in New York in May. The film won the Critics Week Grand Prize at Cannes last year. [Hollywood Reporter]

And Magnolia's Magnet Releasing arm will be bringing Swedish horror film "Let The Right One In" to American theaters. The film is about a 12-year-old boy who befriends a girl who may be a vampire. [Hollywood Reporter]

[Photo: Bong Joon-ho on the set of "The Host," Magnolia Films, 2007]

+ Bong Joon-ho, the director of 'The Host', returns with 'Mother' (KFCC)
+ Lars Von Trier's funny turn (Telegraph)
+ David Gordon Green, mainstream director? (LA Times)
+ Dano signs for 'Gigantic' (Hollywood Reporter)
+ New Bourne to Make Four (E! Online)
+ First Look takes 'Transsiberian' (Variety)
+ Overture nabs 'Sunshine Cleaning' (Variety)
+ Film Movement picks up 'XXY' (Hollywood Reporter)
+ Magnet attracts 'Right One' rights (Hollywood Reporter)