The Hollywood Reporter has details on Werner Herzog’s next project. Funded by Focus Features and described as Herzog’s “biggest English-language costume drama in more than four decades as a filmmaker,” it’s an adaptation of a novel called The Piano Tuner. Set in Burma, it’s about “a man sent to a remote village in the late 1800s to repair an eccentric military man’s piano.”

Herzog has always alternated between drama and documentary, but each flit back and forth between genres has seemed more significant ever since Grizzly Man significantly upped his profile three years ago. Herzog’s last release, Rescue Dawn, made just $5.5 million in the States, which is nothing for a film starring Christian Bale but was still a significant increase over Grizzly’s $3.2 million. Focus Features + costume drama sounds like Oscar bait; I can’t wait to see what the Herzog spin on that formula looks like.