Matthew Weiner to direct first film, starring Owen Wilson and Zach Galifianakis

It's just been announced that Mad Men guru Matthew Weiner will be making his feature film directing debut, a passion project called You Are Here that will begin shooting in May. Weiner will direct from his own script, which revolves around "childhood best friends who go on a road trip after one of them inherits significant coin following the death of his father." The dramedy will star Owen Wilson as a free-wheeling, local-weatherman bachelor and Zach Galifianakis as his bi-polar, man-child best friend. Amy Poehler is currently negotiating to play Wilson's ambitious sister. (Typecasting much? Knope.)

In a statement, an enthusiastic Weiner said:

"This movie has been my passion for eight years and to see it come together with Owen and Zach and Amy is a dream come true. I can't wait to get started because the movie is about everything I care about and I'm tired of reading it out loud to my friends."

This looks like a winner because, aside from the big-name draws, we know it comes down to script, script, script. And Weiner can certainly write his way out of a wet paper bag. When you exhibit a Midas touch with shows like The Sopranos and Mad Men, you get to fish those dusty manuscripts out of the desk drawer. 

We could be looking at a Sideways without the wine here, with Weiner adding depth to the usual comic personas of Wilson and Galifianakis, though we have seen their more serious sides before, in films like The Darjeeling Limited and It's Kind of a Funny Story respectively. Seeing Amy Poehler in a totally serious role would be kind of weird though.