Lindsay Lohan met up with porn star James Deen Sunday night -- he'll share the screen with Linds in the upcoming sex thriller The Canyons, as X17online reported two weeks ago.

Also at the dinner were writer Bret Easton Ellis -- the same guy who brought us American Psycho and Less Than Zero -- so you know this new script won't be for the faint of heart ...

The group dined at new LA restaurant The Churchill and Lilo, James and her pal Gavin took smoke breaks outside during the meal.

Filming is set to begin next month on July 9th, according to Ellis' recent Tweet. The film will be directed by Paul Schrader (who wrote Raging Bull and Taxi Driver).

We can't wait to see Lindsay in this gritty role! The film's described as documenting "five twenty-somethings' quest for power, love, sex and success in 2012 Hollywood." Hey, Lindsay wrote the book on that! Talk about method acting!