Four years after Connie and Carla failed to set the world on fire, Nia Vardalos has left the writing to someone else while returning to the safe turf of Greece for her new film, My Life in Ruins. Vardalos plays an Athens tour guide tired of all the grating tourists, obnoxious locals, and scheming colleagues in her life, and if the trailer -- link removed at request of studio -- (for those who don't mind Greek subtitles) is any indication, things might just change for the better soon enough.

There has yet to be any specific Stateside release date announced -- Fox Searchlight tentatively has it scheduled for 2009 -- but the crowdpleaser pedigree of Vardalos and director Donald Petrie certainly doesn't hurt the film's chances of outgrossing the $8 million that Connie raked in theatrically (whether or not the downright loud pairing of Harland Williams and Rachel Dratch will is a different story).

Also in the name of safe-bet follow-ups is I Hate Valentine's Day, a rom-com written and directed by Vardalos that reunites her with My Big Fat Greek Wedding love interest John Corbett. That project also bears an equally vague '09 release date, but I have trouble thinking that it couldn't be out of post-production and in theaters by next February.

It looked like Nia Vardalos' career was over after the crappy, buzz-sucking television adaptation that was My Big Fat Greek Life. Then, a whole slew of years later, we hear that she's coming back with My Life in Ruins. The film hasn't even had its world premiere in Greece yet (it screens on May 22), and she's got another one on the way. At least this time, she's not following a film up with a crappy TV show. (Man, it was such a disappointing adaptation...) To make it even more appealing, she's also going back to her big hit roots.

Variety reports that Vardalos is once again getting sexy with her My Big Fat Greek Wedding co-star John Corbett for the upcoming romcom I Hate Valentine's Day. The project, which was written by the actress and will mark her directorial debut, is being called "a comedy for the romantically challenged." It focuses on "a romantic, carefree florist who charms a commitment-phobic restaurant owner into trying her theory of 'relationship-less' dating."

Ideally, I'd like to see that remain a "relationship-less" scenario, just to be something different, but I'm sure one or both of them will succumb to the throes of passion and fall in lurve. It is a flick for Valentine's Day after all.

But I ask you: Can this live up to their first pairing?