Francis Ford Coppola has transitioned into an indie filmmaker with surprising alacrity. Coppola had his headaches with the studio system – so much he tried to make his own studio only for his One From the Heart to sink his dream – but was able to work within it fairly well. But post The Rainmaker, the man took time off, made some wine, and chilled. Then came Youth Without Youth in 2007, and then Tetro in 2009. Now word is out from Mike Flemming that he’s already in production on his next film: Twixt Now and Sunrise.

Not only is Coppola shooting his next, he’s casting it with Val Kilmer, Elle Fanning and Bruce Dern. Little is known other than Kilmer stars as a horror writer who gets involved in something creepy. Hopefully it will be better than The Secret Window. Elle Fanning just worked with Francis Ford’s daughter Sofia on Somewhere, while Dern appeared in the Coppola-scripted The Great Gatsby. Kilmer is an interesting choice, he’s mostly been doing low-budgeted indie films for a while now, and little that’s done more than go direct to video. He’s in Sizemore territory. Then again, he was also in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and MacGruber. If this film is good, perhaps he’ll move back into the mainstream.

Then again, there’s been something subterranean about Coppola’s current output. The last two movies weren’t all that well received, and were released without the fanfare of – say – the last couple Scorsese. I guess there’s not a lot of respect for this old master. If this is a good little scary movie, maybe nothing else matters. Regardless, more Coppola is good.