Mike White To Officially Direct ‘Pride And Prejudice And Zombies’
The man behindChuck and Buckis set to dress well and suck…brains, that it is.Mike White, the writer ofSchool of Rock, Nacho Libreand the aforementionedChuck and Buckis now officially set to direct his sophomore feature film – an adaptation of the novelPride and Prejudice and ZombiesbyJane AustinandSeth Grahame-Smith, which tells the classic Austin love story but fills in gaps with zombie comedy and horror. Think white ruffles and hair bonnets covered with blood and guts.
White, whose only feature film directorial experience before this was the Molly Shannon comedyYear of the Dog, wasfirst on a short listto direct the film andthen highlightedas a front runner because of his unique ability to fuse tones and genres. He’s currently working on the HBO showEnlightenedwith Laura Dern. David O. Russellwas long setto direct the film beforeleaving the project. In his time, he brought Natalie Portman on as a star,who then left but stayed onas a producer. Read more after the jump.
Now with a director in place, Lionsgate – who controls the property – can focus on getting it cast. Personally, I think it would be great to getthe cast of the 1995Pride and Prejudice, even if they are a bit older and more expensive now. It would then be such a beautiful parallel with the book, which is well over 75% just the original text. Instead, names that have been tossed about includeScarlett JohanssonandBradley Cooper.
I totally understand why Lionsgate would go with White here – all of his films do tend to blend both funny and serious tones including several that go much, much darker. However, having not seenYear of the Dog, I’m not sure about his visual prowess, something that’s certainly needed for a film like this. One thing is for certain, it won’t look like a Joe Wright movie. Not that that’s a bad thing.
Now that this is official, what do you think about White coming aboard the project? Do we have any fans of the source material out there?
