A month before Blue Jasmine has even hit theaters, Woody Allen is already in the final stages of pre-production for his next project.  In some casting news today, it has been announced that several prolific, award-winning screen actresses have signed on for the film.

Eileen Atkins

Word was already buzzing back in April when it was confirmed that Colin Firth and Emma Stone were set to star in the yet untitled project.  But with news of these veteran performers joining the roster, the project is shaping up to be a little bit astray from Allen’s recent casting norms.  Mid-life turmoils are usually the centerpiece found in all of of Allen’s film narratives.  However, with additions of an actress in her 50s, another in her 60s, and the last in her 70s, audiences may be seeing new subject matter for an Allen film.

Marcia Gay Harden

Not much is known about plot of the film, because, as usual with the New Yorker director, he likes to keep details under wraps.  The only information released so far is that is that the film will be shot in the south of France.  This is the director’s second movie set in France, after the Academy Award-winning Midnight In Paris, and is Allen’s eighth project overall set in Europe.  Additionally, the film is slated to be a comedy.

And the tragi-comedy tone of Allen’s work in the last decade is the perfect fit for these three performers who have a long filmography transitioning between both drama and comedy. Eileen Atkins is known to American audiences for her work in Gosford Park and Cold Mountain.  Marcia Gay Harden has received Academy Award nominations for her work in Pollack and Mystic River.  And Jacki Weaver is known internationally for her nominated performances in 2010’s Animal Kingdom  and last year’s Silver Linings Playbook.

The Unitled Woody Allen Summer Project is planned to released early in 2014.  Meanwhile, Allen’s latest movie, Blue Jasmine, is hitting the silver screen this summer. It stars Cate Blanchett as a woman suffering from depression after being conned by her husband, played by Alec Baldwin, who goes to stay with her sister  in San Francisco.