The Office alum John Krasinski has lined up The Hollars as his next directing effort after helming his first feature, 2009’s Brief Interviews with Hideous Men — and he has enlisted Anna Kendrick, Richard Jenkins, and Margo Martindale to join him. Krasinski also will star in the lead as John Hollar, an aspiring NYC artist who takes his girlfriend (Kendrick) back to his Middle America hometown on the eve of his mother’s (Martindale) brain surgery. There he’s forced to navigate the crazy life he left behind as his dysfunctional family, high school pals, his father (Jenkins), and his over-eager ex flood back into his life ahead of the operation.

The pic is produced by Krasinski’s Sunday Night banner and scripted by James C. Strouse in what’s described as a blend of Steel Magnolias and Garden State. Tom Rice and Ben Nearn are producing for Sycamore Pictures, which recently produced The Way Way Back and Begin Again. Groundswell’s Michael London is also a producer. Sunday Night’s Allyson Seeger is exec producing alongside Strouse and Groundswell’s Janice Williams. Panorama is handling international sales and will put the project in front of buyers at Cannes. WME is handling domestic sales and reps Krasinski, who is also repped by attorney James Adams. Strouse is repped by ICM Partners. Jenkins and Martindale are repped by Gersh; CAA reps Kendrick.