Billy Bob Thornton hasn’t directed a feature film since 2001’s Daddy and Them. Well, last November Thornton broke the news to us that he was once again stepping back into the director’s chair on a film he co-wrote with his writing partner Tom Epperson called Jayne Mansfield’s Car. Now it looks like Thornton is ready to start shooting on the project, as he’s secured funding and has filled out his cast with John Hurt, Kevin Bacon, Robert Patrick, Ray Stevenson (Thor) and John Patrick Amedori (The Butterfly Effect) joining previously announced Robert Duvall.Deadline reports that AR Films is funding the project, which is set to start shooting on June 22nd in Georgia. The story revolves around a guy whose wife leaves him for an Englishman and moves away to England. 20 or 30 years later, in 1969, the wife dies but wishes to be returned to Alabama where she grew up, so the English family meets—and clashes with—the original family that she abandoned. While Thornton's All the Pretty Horses left much to be desired, Sling Blade was a bit of a masterwork. Hopefully he can recapture that magic with this southern tale.