Exclusive: Werner Herzog Says He's Working On Non-3D "Big, Epic" Desert Picture & Film Set In A Maximum Security Prison

Werner Herzog’s strange and deadpan 2009 film, “My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done,” didn’t receive the biggest theatrical release last year, but the picture — starring Michael Shannon, Chloe Sevigny, Willem Dafoe, Michael Pena, Udo Kier and Grace Zabriskie (perhaps known best for her memorable appearances with David Lynch, who produced this picture) — will hit DVD on September 14th thanks to Absurda, Industrial Entertainment and First Look Studios.

We had a chance to speak to Herzog this morning and while the director told us all about the film, his collaboration with Lynch on the project, and his upcoming 3D-shot documentary, “Cave Of Forgotten Dreams,” he also told us about some upcoming projects we did not know about.

Herzog says he has two new feature-length projects in the works, but wouldn’t give away too many details, but hey, he brought them up first. “I have written a screenplay now for a big epic, which certainly will not use 3D,” he said when asked if he would use the technique in the future, noting he would only use the technology if it suited the material. “We’re in the first phase, but it’s a big epic film set in the desert and I’ve also started another film in Texas, in a maximum security prison.” [Editor’s note, it’s unclear whether this is a documentary or not.]

And while he’s listed several place as being the c0-director of the documentary, “Happy People: A Year in the Taiga” — about “hunters in Siberia” — Herzog says it is complete, but he was only a producer on the project. Directed by Dmitry Vasyukov, there’s no release date on it yet, but Herzog seems to think it will be hitting theaters soon. More from this interview next week.

Updated: Meanwhile, while some sites have speculated this “epic desert film” could be the long-rumored biopic of explorer Gertrude Bell, when asked about that particular project the filmmaker said the picture is, “not [happening] yet, we’ll see.” He also noted that the long-in-the-works “Piano Turner” project has “fallen dormant.”