True, he just signed on last week to direct a flick called "Maps to the Stars," but there's certainly nothing wrong with lining up the next gig while that awards buzz is still flowing. "A History of Violence" director David Cronenberg is expected to sign on for "Eastern Promises," a British thriller from the guy who wrote "Dirty Pretty Things."

Says Variety: "Focus Features and BBC Films have attached David Cronenberg to direct "Eastern Promises," a London thriller penned by Steve Knight.

Script digs into the same seamy underside of life in the U.K. capital that Knight explored in his previous film, "Dirty Pretty Things."

Story focuses on a young midwife drawn into investigating the identity of a mysterious Russian girl who dies in childbirth on Christmas Eve. The nurse stumbles into danger when she discovers that the dead woman was a prostitute ensnared by a sex-trafficking gang.

Cronenberg and Knight have just started working together on the script; aim is to shoot this fall.

However, Cronenberg is also attached to direct the Bruce Wagner-scripted "Maps to the Stars" for Serendipity Pictures, and much depends on which of the two projects is ready to go first."