Director Cameron Crowe has a new movie coming out this year. That’s something that no one’s been able to say since the 2005 release of Elizabethtown, his followup to the critically acclaimed Almost Famous. We Bought A Zoo stars Matt Damon and Scarlett Johannson and is due out in December (of course.)

Crowe’s still probably most widely known for 1989′s Say Anything (his first feature) and 1996′s Jerry Maguire, two films that if you weren’t around when they were new, you probably think of them as mere tropes that represented the Zeitgeist of the time. The image of John Cusack holding the boombox over his head while it blares out Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes” has become iconic, a part of the pop culture vernacular, parodied so often that if the movie from which it came weren’t so good overall, would have long ago become a joke. Without his nuanced portrayal of  Lloyd Dobler, John Cusack may or may not have continued his trajectory toward full fledged adult actor, merely treading water in a string of frat boy comedies until he got too old for them. Crowe made a star out of Kate Hudson. Until Almost Famous she was merely a 2nd generation Hollywood curiousity (I won’t say whether I think that was justified or not, in any case, Crowe made people take notice.) Do we even need to discuss what Jerry Maguire did for Tom Cruise. It was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Cruise for Best Actor, his first since Born on the Fourth of July in 1990. It definitely gave an adrenaline spike to the heart of his career. Of course, Cuba Gooding, Jr. won for Best Supporting Actor. What this adds up to in terms of We Bought a Zoo, is that if you’re a fan, a new film is a big deal.

The setup is simple: Set in Southern California, a father moves his young family to the countryside to renovate and re-open a struggling zoo. Sounds kind of hallmark channel-esque no? It’s based on a memoir by Benjamin Mee. I just think in the hands of Crowe, who has such a sharply tuned ear for dialogue (if I can mix my metaphorical body parts) and his writer Aline Brosh McKenna (The Devil Wears Prada, 27 Dresses, Morning Glory), that there could be something more here. Crowe himself has likened the film to Local Hero, perhaps fitting since he has Peter Riegert in the cast.

In addition to Damon, Johansson, and Riegert, the cast boasts Thomas Haden Church, Elle Fanning, Patrick Fugit, Carla Gallo, John Michael Higgins and Angus Macfadyen and I’m guessing lots of animals.  Jonsi of Sigur Ros is doing the score. Jonsi contributed an original song to my favorite soundtrack from 2010, How to Train Your Dragon.

We Bought A Zoo is in theaters from December 23 in the UK, US and Canada.