Orlando Bloom settles on 'Main Street' for his next picture

Orlando Bloom is ready to once again enjoy the relative safety of acting alongside an ensemble. 

The Brit who has had the most success as part of the huge "Lord of the Rings" and "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchises is joining the cast of "Main Street," the last screenplay by acclaimed playwright Horton Foote. 

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Bloom will be joining a cast that includes Ellen Burstyn, Patricia Clarkson, Colin Firth and Andrew McCarthy.  The producers have yet to cast the story's central character, a young girl role.

Tony Award winner John Doyle will direct the film that focuses on residents of a North Carolina town whose lives are shaken up when a stranger arrives.  Bloom will play a small town policeman while McCarthy is set as a despicable business manager. 

Bloom, who hasn't appeared on screen since "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" will appear later this year in the anthology "New York, I Love You" and Mark Ruffalo's directorial debut "Sympathy for Delicious." 

The Pulitzer prize winning Foote, who passed away earlier this month, may have been known for his stage work first and foremost, but he also won Oscars for both his "Tender Mercies" and "To Kill A Mockingbird" screenplays. 

"Main Street" is expected to begin shooting in Durham, N.C. next month.