Writer-director Cameron Crowe just released his labor of love documentary Pearl Jam Twenty, recently finished putting the tweaks on his first feature film in six years We Bought a Zoo, and now he’s already fairly deep into his next film. We reported back in September that the Almost Famous director was already writing his next project after We Bought a Zoo, a film that was inspired by the kids he saw during auditions for Matt Damon-starred drama. Now Crowe says that the script is finished, and he hopes to begin shooting the comedy next March. Furthermore, he has another movie that he intends to make after that. Hit the jump for more on what Crowe had to say about his upcoming projects, including his comments on the difficulty of getting We Bought a Zoo financed.We know that this new comedy isn’t the long-in-the-works Deep Tiki, nor is it the Marvin Gaye biopic that he’s been developing for a few years. However, one of these two projects could possibly be that other project he’s talking about making after his comedy, though Deep Tiki is doubtful given that the general consensus is that the project is dead. When asked in an interview with the New York Times (via The Playlist) if he plans on taking as long between projects as he has in the past, Crowe responded simply “Not anymore, baby”. Crowe’s mentor, writer-director James L. Brooks added:

“He’s always writing, even when he’s in the middle of production. He’s the only writer I know who avoids writing by writing.”

Crowe’s presence is definitely welcomed in a landscape filled with flashy, big-budget robot/alien/explosion movies. Whether you’re a fan of his films are not, they’re undoubtedly made with that "writer-director" touch and Crowe's signature voice is abundant throughout each feature. In the NY Times piece, the director talked about taking a breather after the disappointment of 2005's Elizabethtown, and spoke candidly about the difficulty of getting a character drama off the ground in the current box office climate. He mapped out each shot in Zoo with his cinematographer beforehand, and had extensive rehearsals with the cast before filming in order to bring the production in early and under budget.

While the sole trailer for Zoo thus far has me a bit worried about over-sappiness, I’m still excited to see what Crowe has come up with. There’s got to be another Jerry Maguire or Say Anything up there in that head of his, and if it’s not We Bought a Zoo then we know we’ve got at least two more Crowe projects following closely behind.