24 Frames reports that Christoph Waltz, who recently joined Hollywood’s A-list after winning the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role as the repugnant, ruthless Col. Hans Landa in “Inglourious Basterds,” will direct his first feature film, a German-language romantic comedy for Fox International Productions called “Up and Away.”

Waltz, a 53-year-old veteran actor of the European market, co-wrote the film’s script and may play a minor role in the film which is a loose adaptation of Meike Winnemuth and Peter Praschl’s novel, “Auf und Davon.”

Waltz’s impressive turn in Quentin Tarantino’s World War II revisionist picture has drummed up considerable interest from major studios stateside.  He is set to star in December’s “The Green Hornet” as well as “Water for Elephants,” which is slated to begin production this summer.

The central setting of “Up and Away” is a television dating game show.  The female host who also runs the show must deal with her adverse feelings about romance, which are more interested in its marketability than emotional impact. “When you make feelings a commodity, it’s not a feeling anymore,” Waltz says.

So since it’s going to be a German film made for German audiences will we get to see it over here in America?  Maybe.  Maybe not.  Fox International President Sanford Panitch has found success in a non-traditional distribution model of making movies for specific local territories without the intent of worldwide marketing.  “Maybe there’s an opportunity for ‘Up and Away’ to travel, but that’s not the business model,” Panitch says. “We are making the movie for the German audience — and it’s a big enough market to matter, the fifth biggest in the world.”