The career paths of most former child stars are usually clearly set by their early twenties. In the case of
Amanda Seyfried, after playing the necessarily simple part of Karen Smith in Mean Girls, she had more or less settled into a steady stream of prestigious US television series broken up, on occasion, by minor film roles. However, having been cast in the title role in the upcoming Red Riding Hood, it appears that Miss Seyfried is now in demand as a leading lady in the fickle world of Hollywood cinema and has been signed up to star in Heitor Dahlia's thriller,
Gone. Dalhia is considered fairly hot directorial property at the moment having drawn praise for his incredibly ambitious version of Crime and Punishment set in Sao Paolo, Nina, he was similarly lauded for follow up, O Cheiro do Ralo. Gone will be Dalhias first English language production and his screen writer will be Allison Burnett (Untraceable), embarking upon easily the most high profile feature of her career, and who will be keen for Gone to be a success after her much derided script for the remake of Fame. According to
The Hollywood Reporter:
The thriller revolves around a young woman named Jill (Seyfried) who returns home from her night shift to find her sister's bed empty. She's convinced the serial killer who kidnapped her two years before has come back to finish the job. But the police do not believe Jill, who knows time is running out. With no one to turn to, she sets off to find her sister and face her abductor once and for all.
This premise implies rather cruder material than the mercurial Brazilian director is used to, but suitably safe for a director taking his place as a cog within the Hollywood machine. Other names tied in with the project thus far include Tom Rosenberg, Lucchesi, Sidney Kimmel, Chris Salvaterra and Dan Abrams, all of whom will have a role in production, while Summit Entertainment have secured distribution rights. The project is another of many unveiled at the Berlin Film Market. No dates have been set for production.