It's probably a credit to both the script and the fresh concept that
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies keeps attracting talented and interesting directors, despite now appearing to be a sloppy seconds project for it's new helmer. The Lars and The Real Girl and upcoming Fright Night remake director
Craig Gillespie has entered talks with Lionsgate to helm the zombiefied & revisionist Jane Austen adaptation
according to Vulture, after previous drop-outs David O. Russell (The Fighter) and Mike White (The Year of the Dog) exited after brief attachments. Gillespie is shaping up to be a strong and interesting director, his filmography boasts ambitious and left-field fare, and perhaps there is few better who could tackle this genre bending material. Granted, we haven't yet seen what he has done with Fright Night, but we like the cast he secured and how that one has shaped up. That one's due for a release late summer.
Seth Grahame-Smiths novel Pride and Prejudice and Zombies has sold multi-millions of copies in just 18 months of shelf life and with the zombie fad so hot right now, Lionsgate are aggressively looking to get this potential tentpole before camera's this year.
After both Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson previously flirted with the project, there's no word on who will lead as Elizabeth Bennett. As I said when this project was originally announced, the smart way for Lionsgate to go is casting this movie as if it were a straight Jane Austen adaptation, which would then make the horror elements feel that much more genuine and authentic. And fun.
Keira Knightely (obviously, having already done a straight Austen adaptation) and
Carey Mulligan would work nicely and if I were Lionsgate, I would be making big plays for them.
Imogen Poots, albeit not a name that will fill execs with the hope of large box office returns and has just worked with Gillespie on Fright Night, would be an interesting choice.