The Shins' James Mercer to star in movie

The Shins' frontman James Mercer is set to play the lead role in a forthcoming feature-length film.

'Some Days Are Better Than Others' was directed by Matt McCormick, who has previously worked on Shins videos including 'Australia' and 'The Past And Pending'.

McCormick said the film was "about lonely people trying to create their own abstract forms of communication", reports Pitchfork.

Speaking of Mercer's involvement in the film, which also stars former Sleater-Kinney singer Carrie Brownstein, McCormick added: "With James, the character he plays is in many ways an extension of the character that I created for him in The Shins' 'The Past and Pending' video I did a while back. While writing the script, James sort of became this character by default."

He added: "The character isn't necessarily based on James, it was just James' face that was in my head when writing this character. And then after I did the 'Australia' video I was just completely impressed with his poise and ability to take direction, and eventually decided to give him a shot at playing this role."

The film is set for release in Autumn 2009.