Xavier Dolan casts Marion Cotillard, Lé​a Seydoux and Vincent Cassel in new film

Production is set to being next month on Xavier Dolan's next film, a French-language feature starring Marion Cotillard, Lé​a Seydoux and Vincent Cassel.

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Dolan says he's thrilled to work with such "inspiring talent" on It's Only the End of the World (Juste La Fin Du Monde).

Cotillard won a best actress Oscar for her portrayal of legendary French singer Édith Piaf in La Vie en Rose. Seydoux, who is set to appear in the latest James Bond movie Spectre, won critical acclaim for her role in the French coming-of-age romance Blue Is the Warmest Colour. 

Cassel is best known as the charming rogue in Ocean's Twelve and Ocean's Thirteen.

The Canada-France co-production also stars Nathalie Baye and Gaspard Ulliel.

The film is based on a play by Jean-Luc Lagarce of the same name. It centres on a writer who returns to his hometown, planning to announce his upcoming death to his family.

Dolan says he was introduced to the play many years ago by muse Anne Dorval, whose Dolan credits include Mommy and I Killed My Mother.

The Quebec writer/director says he will shoot the film in late May before starting on his first English-language project, The Life and Death of John F. Donovan, starring Kit Harington and Jessica Chastain.

Dolan says he hopes It's Only the End of the World could "bridge the genre chasm" between his mother-son drama Mommy and John F.

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"It's the second time I'm adapting a play and I have to admit that so far, for me, novels and plays have been the regal road to screenwriting," Dolan said in a release.

"I love adaptations and they challenge me in a different way. It's humbling to translate someone's world, someone's intimate creation to the screen. It's a big responsibility. And it's a risk. So that's all very, very inspiring."