It all seemed to be running so smoothly last year – David O Russell would direct Natalie Portman in an adaptation of Seth Grahame Smith’s Pride & Prejudice & Zombies, but that fell through when the actress left, shortly followed by the director. Since then Mike White has been and gone from the director’s chair, leaving the post vacant.
Now Vulture reports that while it’s not yet official and nothing’s been signed, Craig Gillespie is in talks to helm the project. While he broke through with the indie hit Lars And The Real Girl, Gillespie already has some experience with ironic horror, having recently wrapped a remake of the 1985 creepy comedy, Fright Night, which is due out this summer.
He would seem a good choice then for Pride & Prejudice & Zombies, as the book takes about 80% of Jane Austen’s original text, but then adds in some blood-thirsty zombies. So it’s basically Elizabeth Bennet looking for love and independence, set against the outbreak of a deadly virus that turns people into the killer undead. However she’s rather distracted from trying to kill these fiends (using her impressive martial arts skills) by the arrival of the arrogant Mr. Darcy. With Gillespie’s background of quirky drama and horror, he should be able to handle it.