Academy Award winning actor Javier Bardem has joined the cast of acclaimed Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s upcoming Spanish-language thriller “Biutiful.”

Trade paper Variety reports that Javier Bardem, who received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in the Coen brothers’ 2007 drama “No Country for Old Men,” will star in “Biutiful,” Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s first project without regular scriptwriting partner Guillermo Arriaga.

Inarritu wrote the script with Armando Bo and Nicolas Giacobone. Bardem stars opposite Argentinian-born Maricel Alvarez and Spanish actor Ruben Ochandiano. Two-time Academy Award winner Gustavo Santaolalla will compose the soundtrack while Rodrigo Prieto has signed on as director of photography. Filming begins next week in Barcelona.

Inarritu and Arriaga first garnered critical appreciation in 2000 with their film “Amores Perros,” which was followed by the English-language hits “21 Grams” and “Babel,” forming an acclaimed trilogy. Their collaboration apparently went sour after the release of “Babel” and the two parted ways.

“Biutiful,” described by Variety as an urban thriller, tells the story of a man “embroiled” in less than legal affairs who finds himself reacquainted with a childhood friend, only the friend has grown up to be a police officer.

Co-producing the project are Fernando Bovaira’s Mod company and Cha Cha Cha,

Inarritu’s own partnership with fellow Mexican directors Alfonso Cuaron and Guillermo del Toro.

Javier Bardem most recently appeared in the Woody Allen-directed pic “Vicky Christina Barcelona,” in which he starred opposite Penelope Cruz and Scarlett Johansson. He is the first Spanish actor to receive an Academy Award nomination, for his performance in Julian Schnabel’s 2000 film “Before Night Falls,” which co-starred Olivier Martinez, Andrea Di Stefano, Santiago Magill and Johnny Depp. He later became the first Spanish actor to receive an Oscar.