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"Pride and Prejudice And Zombies" is back from the undead. Err, it's come back to life? No that doesn't work either....
Though within the span of one week it lost its director (David O. Russell, who left to take on the video-game adaptation, "Drake's Fortune") and its lead actress (Natalie Portman, who will still remain on as a producer), the picture is actually rising from the grave once again.
Deadline is reporting that Bradley Cooper and Scarlett Johansson are names that O. Russell had in mind for the lead roles of Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet before he left and still should be considered the frontrunners. Meanwhile Lionsgate is claiming no cast has been named yet, but "other actors" are in the mix.
And Pajiba, who seem to shying away from reporting news stories on their blog, instead noting news on their Twitter feed, may have solved who those people are reporting that, Mia Wasikowska, Tilda Swinton and Catherine O'Hara are also possible actresses for the lead, Bennet, Lady Catherin and Mrs. Bennett respectively. Wasikowska would be a good fit, but won't Cary Fukunagas "Jane Eyre" be slightly too similar of period pieces even though Bronte and Austen's style and tone are vastly different? Swinton and O'Hara though, do sound like deliciously good choices and we hope they stick.
Evidently, now that O. Russell is off the project, directors are lining up for the gig and Deadline says one of them is likely going to be David Slade who was on the short list to direct "Wolverine 2" which now looks like it's all but Darren Aronofsky's gig (we still feel odd about this).
Update: Deadline have added another couple of tidbits to their story, suggesting that Mike Newell ("Prince Of Persia," "Donnie Brasco") is the current front-runner to take over from Russell in the director's chair, and that Neil Marshall ("Centurion") is also in consideration. If it's going to be one of the two, please say it'll be Newell, even if he is coming off the worst film of his career...
Alfonso Cuarón's troubled, ambitious and potentially great sci-fi thriller "Gravity" will continue the search for its leading lady as Natalie Portman has officially turned down the lead role.
The news is a major bummer for the $80 million production, which can only move forward if it can find a bankable lead female star to topline the pic. Angelina Jolie was the favored choice but turned down the part twice, so Warner Bros. took a long look at their list of contenders and made an offer to Portman. It was last reported that she was in active negotiations, but clearly, she has moved on.
The question now facing the production is which direction to go in. Cuarón was willing to bring the film in on a smaller budget to get an actress of his choice, but Warner Bros., who are worried about marketing a female-led sci-fi action film (not exactly a guarantee of box office success), want a more bankable name. We imagine they'll go back and look at recognized names like Sandra Bullock, Naomi Watts and Scarlett Johansson who have been mentioned as candidates while other names linked as potential leads that have included Marion Cotillard, Carey Mulligan, Sienna Miller, Abbie Cornish, Rebecca Hall, Olivia Wilde and Blake Lively.
At this point, we don't care who is cast really, we just want the film to get made. We hope that Portman's pass on the project isn't a harbinger of worse things to come. Here's hoping Cuarón and Warner Bros. can find a leading lady for the project soon. [Deadline]
With what will likely be the most financially successful project of his career, "The Fighter," hitting theaters this fall, David O. Russell is not lacking for a choice of projects to follow it up with. But it looks like he's walking away from one he has been linked to for the better part of the year.
NYMag reports that scheduling conflicts forced Russell's hand to exit the director's chair for "Pride And Prejudice And Zombies" so he could make the previously announced comedy, "Old St. Louis." 'Zombies' producer and star Natalie Portman apparently couldn't make the start date Russell was shooting for so he ultimately opted to leave the project and film 'St. Louis' next March.
The film is set to star Vince Vaughn who will play "a divorced traveling toy salesman who reconnects with his teen daughter after years on the road." Vaughn would play the salesman, with Scarlett Johansson eyeing the role of his lover and secretary who joins him on a cross-country jaunt. Johansson was announced earlier this year to be joining the cast, but with the film now shooting in March, her commitment to "The Avengers" has forced her out of the film. That said, the scheduling now makes it more likely that Chloe Moretz, linked to play the daughter, will be taking part in the film.
While we would've loved to see a 'Zombies' pic helmed by Russell, it's no great loss either. The director is at his sharpest when chronicling dysfunctional relationships and 'St. Louis' looks to be right in his comfort zone. In fact, even though the project has been kicking around for years with scripts by Steve Pink ("Grosse Pointe Blank," "High Fidelity" ) and Allen Loeb ("Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps"), it's been given a complete overhaul by Russell who wrote a new script and will be receiving the only writing credit on the project. And at the very least, we hope it at least marks a return-to-form of sorts for Vaughn who has seriously been phoning it in for his last half dozen or so movies.
It seems that Marvel is looking at their huge roster of comic characters and saying, "Fuck it, they all get a movie!"
Speaking at a press conference today for the release of "Iron Man 2" on DVD/Blu-ray, Marvel head Kevin Feige confirmed that a Black Widow spinoff is in the works saying, “We’ve already started discussions with Scarlett [Johansson] about the idea of a solo movie and have begun putting together concepts, but 'The Avengers' comes first.”
Really? We can't say we're too thrilled about this, mostly because we're going to have to endure countless rumors about villains, casting and where it will fit in the huge Marvel movie timeline until the thing officially gets the go ahead which, judging by Feige's statement, seems to be a bit of a ways off.
As for the character, we're not particularly eager for a standalone movie centered around Black Widow, particularly as played by Johansson who can fill out spandex quite admirably, but brought all the personality of Wonder bread to her turn in "Iron Man 2." But perhaps she'll improve when she starts filming "The Avengers" next year; at the very least, there will be twice as many other things going on in that movie to help prop her up. [ScreenRant]
"Pride and Prejudice And Zombies" is back from the undead. Err, it's come back to life? No that doesn't work either....
