Director Fernando Meirelles has yet to match his 2002 breakthrough film City of God, but he's cranked out some quality films since with The Constant Gardener and Blindness.  While I found his latest film, 360, to be incredibly disappointing, Meirelles is already looking to his next film: a biopic of Aristotle Onassis, the controversial shipping magnate who married JFK's widow Jackie in 1968.  As we reported back in April, Meirelles sees the film as "a sort of Godfather, with Onassis at the center."  The film is based on the Peter Evans book Nemesis and Meirelles says he plans to start shooting sometime next year.Hit the jump for some encouraging words from the Brazilian director on why his next film will be like his breakthrough film as well as details on distribution for 360.Meirelles tells The Playlist that his last three movies came to him, but like with City of God, he's developing this one independently:

"This is a different film for the last three films I made, they were projects that came to me, but this I’m developing, working with the writer, which gives me a lot of pleasure, to create the film from scratch. The last time I did that was with City of God, it’s the same writer (Bráulio Mantovani), the same process."

He adds that he's got some names for casting but the process hasn't begun and he hasn't spoken to anyone yet.

In a related story, Deadline reports that Meirelles' 360, which opened the London Film Festival, will be picked up by Magnolia for U.S. distribution.  However, don't expect an awards season push as the studio as producer Andrew Eaton tells The Playlist, "It’s pretty close to being signed. I imagine they’ll release it in spring next year, they’ll probably wait for the whole awards thing to run its course."  Stronger reviews would probably have changed that release plan but the unenthusiastic response would likely leave it lost in the awards shuffle.

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Image via Magnolia