Source: Variety

Robert Benton has signed a two-picture deal with Lakeshore Entertainment to direct two films, Feast of Love and Appointment in Samarra, reports Variety.

Deal brings him back into the Lakeshore fold after helming the 2003 drama "The Human Stain."

Feast of Love is based on the novel by Charles Baxter. Story, adapted by Allison Burnett, is described as a romance revolving around a community of friends in Oregon.

Appointment in Samarra is based on the novel by John O'Hara. Story, adapted by Benton, centers on the social circuit in Gibbsville, Pa. At the heart of the scene is a glamorous couple who are the envy of almost everyone in town until the husband begins down a self-destructive path.

Shooting starts in August on "Feast," while Appointment in Samarra will begin shooting in 2007.