Both are savage pessimists. Both have redefined the limits of their respective art forms. Both have expressed their admiration for the other. But it's only now that the possibility of their working together has been confirmed.

In London to promote his new film, The White Ribbon, Michael Haneke revealed to theguardian.com/film that he and the controversial author Michel Houellebecq had discussed mutual projects.

"I've read every book of Houlellebecq's and wondered myself whether we could perhaps work together," he said. "We have considered it and talked about it, but he's got so much to do and I've got so much to do, so we haven't got very far yet."

Houellebecq has long been interested in transferring his work to the cinema. His novel, Atomised, was adapted for the big screen in 2006, while his self-directed film of his most recent novel, The Possibility of an Island, met with critical derision last year. The latter includes a lengthy discussion of Haneke's merits as film-maker.

In an interview to promote Hidden in 2005, Haneke acknowledged the novelist's appreciation of his work and said that, to some extent, he concurred with Houellebecq's take on him as a moralist. Last year, Haneke drew further parallels between them, calling Houellebecq "an author who is both tender and furious at the same time. A bit like me." For good measure, the pair also share the same agent.

The White Ribbon, which is released in the UK today, won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes film festival earlier this year. A tale of random violence set in small-town Germany on the eve of the first world war, responses to the film have been warm, but discussion of the director's intention more mixed.

This is something for which Haneke abdicates responsibility. "Everyone should have their own interpretation," he said. "Whether it matches my intentions when I made the film is not important. A large audience in a cinema will all see a different film. A book exists in the same number of versions as there are readers."