David Cronenberg has added a second feature to his already crowded dance card, and will direct Eastern Promises, from an original script by Steve Knight (Dirty Pretty Things), after helming the satirical drama Maps to the Stars this fall.

Produced by Focus Features and BBC, Promises follows a young midwife who investigates the death in childbirth of an immigrant Russian girl. Its budget will be in the US$15- to US$20-million range.

Cronenberg says the script showcases Knight's ability to blend character-driven narratives with a compelling plot. "It's a combination of those two things," he says. "And the textures are lovely. The script is full of life and interesting, really accurate details that really ring true about people and places."

Playback has learned that Maps to the Stars will be first onto the dance floor. The Bruce Wagner-scripted and Robert Lantos-produced satirical drama is likely to start principal photography in the fall in Toronto and L.A.

"My aim would be to do two movies back to back - starting with Maps," says Cronenberg from his Toronto home. "It's further along because the script is there. Whereas we all agree with Eastern Promises that the script is not ready to go and Steve Knight is doing a rewrite."

While he can't mention any names, Cronenberg says that the Maps screenplay has already been sent out to actors on his wish list. Because it has yet to be cast, the budget hasn't been finalized. It will mark the first time the director has shot in the U.S. But Cronenberg isn't preparing any differently.

"Every time you go to shoot some place it becomes a set," he says. "I've shot in Beijing, Budapest, London and Paris. I haven't shot a lot in other countries, but I expect it'll be fun and kind of cathartic to be shooting in Hollywood."

Cronenberg adds that the story by Wagner, known for his trenchant critiques of Hollywood, such as the novels I'm Losing You and Still Holding, will feature multiple narratives of intertwining lives and stories set in L.A. It shares some similarities with his recent hit thriller A History of Violence.

"It's not just an examination of Hollywood, but many other things as well," the director notes. "You sort of have to be specific in order to be universal. The specifics are the movie business, but it has huge implications about the way people work. It should [have the same effect as] History, but of course it's a very different milieu, a lot more mouthy, a lot more verbal. It's a different group of people, obviously, than Midwesterners, but no less revealing."

Both Eastern Promises and a potential third project, London Fields (a thriller adapted by Martin Amis from his own novel), would take Cronenberg back to London, where he shot part of Spider.

Cronenberg is also still involved in the Dead Ringers TV series for HBO, but denies rumors that he is attached to I Kill, based on an Italian bestseller.

"I was never going to do I Kill," he says. "Never was. Never am."