According to The Hollywood Reporter, Billy Bob Thornton is putting on his spacesuit to star in The Astronaut Farmer, a drama by Mark and Michael Polish for Warner Independent Pictures.

The story follows an eccentric farmer who dreams of space travel and sets out to build a rocket inside his barn. His neighbors consider him an oddity, the government thinks he is a threat, and the media sees him as a story.

Farmer is being directed by Michael Polish from a script written by the two brothers. Mark Polish is producing along with Paula Weinstein and Len Amato.

Shooting is scheduled to begin Sept. 7 in New Mexico. The film will be the 29th production to have shot in the state since it introduced its tax incentives in 2003. It will be the third Warners production, after Around the Bend and Niki Caro's Charlize Theron-starrer North Country.

After Farmer, Thornton, who just finished shooting Mr. Woodcock for New Line, will segue into Schools for Scoundrels, which Todd Phillips is directing for the Weinsteins. That film is due to shoot in November.