Cameron Crowe already writing his next project, inspired by kids met during auditions for We Bought a Zoo

Writer-director Cameron Crowe has never really been what one would call a prolific filmmaker (unlike, say, Steven Soderbergh), but he’s certainly been plenty busy of late after being mostly mum in the years since 2005’s ELIZABETHTOWN. Just in this year, we’ll be seeing three works from the man: THE UNION, a documentary about the Elton John and Leon Russell collaborative album of the same name; PEARL JAM TWENTY, another documentary covering the 20-year anniversary of the famed rock band; and finally WE BOUGHT A ZOO, the adaptation of newspaper columnist Benjamin Mee’s memoir about a family that moves into a rundown mansion that also happens to come with a 30-acre wildlife park that’s home to about 200 animals.

But guess what? Though he’s not even done with either PEARL JAM TWENTY or WE BOUGHT A ZOO, Crowe has already begun working on the screenplay for a new project, one inspired by all the kids who auditioned for his latest feature. Here’s Crowe in an interview with IFC:

“This woman that I work with, Gail Levin, is a great casting director. She’s always finding new faces. The kids she found for We Bought a Zoo are so exciting. We met with all these actors, and they would leave the room and it was a situation where I would turn to Gail and say ‘They’re not right for this one, but I want to write something where we can work with that person.’ That was the genesis for writing a whole new script which I’ve been working on while we were doing We Bought a Zoo and finishing this Pearl Jam movie.”

Crowe’s response came after a question asking what the deal was with his long in-development Marvin Gaye biopic. Though that project is apparently still in the works, it’s not clear if it’ll still be the director’s next film, or if this new “kid” project will now be taking precedence.