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What could possibly be even better than seeing Daniel Day-Lewis in another movie so soon after his Academy-Award-winning performance as Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood? Another Day-Lewis/Scorsese partnership, that’s what. And that’s exactly what audiences are going to get.

Day-Lewis, notorious for taking lengthy breaks between works, is teaming up yet again with legendary director Martin Scorsese (The Departed, Gangs of New York, Goodfellas), this time being joined by screenwriter Jay Cocks (De-Lovely, Gangs of New York), actor Benicio Del Toro (Sin City, Traffic), and author Stephen King on a new project set for release some time in 2010.

According to Variety, Scorsese has been interested in directing an adaptation of Japanese author Shusaku Endo’s novel titled “Chinmoku,” for over a decade. Silence will tell the story of two 17th century Jesuit priests who travel to Japan, a country self-isolated from all foreign contact, to join in the evangelical mission there. The two priests begin to question their faith, however, as they witness the horrors faced by Japanese Christians being persecuted by their own government.

Honestly, this sounds like the perfect role for Day-Lewis. There will probably be a lot of yelling and angst and acting crazy, which we all know he’s really good at. The film is already set for distribution under Warner Bros. and will be produced by Cappa Defina Productions (The Aviator, Gangs of New York), among other companies. King, who has worked with Scorcese on Gangs of New York, The Aviator and The Departed, reportedly is financing the film (as he did the Mel Gibson flick Edge of Darkness). It must be nice to be able to afford to finance a film. Especially in this economy. Especially when you’re financing the film just because you’re interested in it and you want it to be made.

Endo’s novel was already adapted for film once (titled Chinmoku) in 1971 by Japanese director Masahiro Shinoda. It received four awards at the Mainichi Film Concours in 1972, including Best Director and Best Film.