The director of Once is teaming up with Judd Apatow and Scarlett Johansson for his next film!

The Playlist has the details:

Writer/Producer/Director Judd Apatow has a lot on his plate at any given moment and we’ll forgive you if you forgot that way back in the summer of 2009 he revealed that among the many projects he was juggling, was a collaboration with a director who was making major waves with his indie musical at the time. “...we have a movie with John Carney, the guy who made ‘Once’ writing and directing, so hopefully, as soon as I’m done and have a little break, I can help people with their scripts and help to kick things around.”

Well, while Carney has knocked out a couple of films in that time—the comedy “Zonad” and the upcoming “The Rafters”—it looks like he and Apatow have cleared up their schedules and there is some big movement on what he’s cooking up. The Sunday Business Post Online (via ONTD) reports that Scarlett Johansson has been cast in “Can A Song Save Your Life?” a music-oriented picture that Carney will direct. The story will follow “a washed-up A&R man who forms a passionate bond with a young singer-songwriter (Johansson) from out of town.”

With that logline, it’s no surprise to learn that Johansson will sing a good handful of songs in the film, but that will be no problem for the seasoned vocalist. She has already dropped Anywhere I Lay My Head, an album of Tom Waits covers, collaborated with Pete Yorn on his album Break Up, and lent her voice to the soundtracks of “Wretches & Jabberers” as well as “Days Of Grace.”

‘‘I’ve been writing it for a year and a half,” Carney said. ‘‘I went out to Los Angeles to meet Scarlett a couple of months ago. She was everything you could imagine – very hot, elegant and she’s really smart.”

The film will have a tiny budget of $10 million with a shoot planned in New York City next year. No word yet on who will take on the male lead role, but Mark Ruffalo and Jim Carrey are said to be rumored.

As for Apatow, he just started shooting this week on his “Knocked Up” spinoff, “This Is Forty,” and is riding high off the success of “Bridesmaids” which he stamped his producer’s name to. This sounds like an intriguing project all around, that is pretty much right in our sweet spot and at the very least, it’s the most intriguing, meaty role Johansson has had in years.

-Joey's Two Cents: Apatow has the Midas touch when it comes to producing, so this could be something to keep a close eye on...thoughts?