The Oscar-winning actress, Anjelica Huston, is to direct and star in a comedy-drama written by the Irish comedian, playwright and director, Brendan O'Carroll, which begins filming in Ireland in July.
The film, The Mammy, is one of a range of Irish projects being launched at the Cannes Film Festival.
The Mammy will be produced by Jim Sheridan and Arthur Lappin through their Dublin-based company, Hell's Kitchen. It is set in Dublin in 1967 and will feature Anjelica Huston in the central role of Agnes Browne, described as "a feisty widow who, together with her seven children, deals with life's adversities following the death of her husband".
There are unconfirmed reports that the cast will include the leading French actor, Gerard Depardieu.
Icon Entertainment, Mel Gibson's production company, which made Braveheart in Ireland, announced that the Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey signed this week to star in the Dublin crime drama, Ordinary Decent Criminal, which will begin shooting in the autumn. It will be directed by the Irish film-maker, Thaddeus O'Sullivan, and produced by Jonathan Cavendish of Little Bird Films.
In her first major film role, Ballykissangel star Dervla Kirwan will join Christopher Eccleston and Yvan Attal in the Irish romantic comedy, Old New Borrowed Blue. She will play a young woman who is on the verge of getting married when her French penpal, whom she has never met, suddenly appears.
It will be directed by Michael Winterbottom, a member of the Cannes jury this year, who made Welcome to Sarajevo and Roddy Doyle's Family. Filming gets under way on June 22nd.
PolyGram Filmed Entertainment will announce two Irish projects at a press lunch in Cannes on Monday. Alan Parker will be present for the launch of his Angela's Ashes film which is expected to start shooting in September. And John Forte will direct Mad About Mambo, which begins filming in Ireland later this month.