Director Brad Anderson, whose The Machinist screens in Berlin's Panorama section, is prepping two new and very different feature film projects.

The first is a musical set in early 1960's Brazil. The story follows an American woman who travels to Rio de Janeiro and discovers bossa nova music. Anderson is writing the script with his Next Stop Wonderland co-writer Lyn Vaus and Boston-based producer Robbins Entertainment. Financing is not yet in place.

"This is an attempt to go back and try my hand at something totally different," Anderson says of the musical, which follows his feature filmography to date of two horror films (Machinist and Session 9) and three romantic comedies (Wonderland, Happy Accidents and The Darien Gap). Wonderland was memorably set to a Brazilian soundtrack.

The as-yet untitled musical would mark Anderson's second experience shooting abroad after the Barcelona-shot Machinist, a Filmax production which world premiered to strong reviews in Sundance.

Meanwhile, he is also developing a script for Warner Bros titled Lucid, a project he describes as a bigger-budgeted, mainstream horror film along the lines of The Ring, about a woman who believes she has the ability to see into the future.

Vowing he doesn't know which will be his next, Anderson adds, "I have four or five projects in the works, like any smart filmmaker."