Directors: Craig Gillespie Likely For ‘Pride And Prejudice And Zombies;’ Wayne Kramer Leaves Stallone Film ‘Headshots;’ Meg Ryan Makes Directorial Debut
Somehow, 2010-2011 is going to go down as a time period when finding a director forPride and Prejudice and Zombiesturned into a massive undertaking. David O. Russell was going to make the film, but he walked. Many others were considered, then Mike White was hired, then he left, too.Craig Gillespie(Lars and the Real Girl, the upcomingFright Nightremake) has been said to be thetop choiceto be director #3, then for a minute it looked like PP&Z authorSeth Grahame-SmithandDavid Katzenbergmight co-direct. But nowDeadlinesays Craig Gillespie is getting the job after all.
The basic project (zombies are inserted into the text of Jane Austen’sPride and Prejudice) doesn’t sound appealing at all, but I guess I can see why the idea of making a period drama with that weird horror overtone might be of interest to a director. It’s like a weird experiment; how do you take one thing and make it into something quite different, while only changing a few items? At this point, the whole arc of the project sounds like a weird experiment, though. Now we’ll have to watch how the casting process goes. I can only imagine that will take another few years.
After the break, Sylvester Stallone’s new movie needs a new director, but Meg Ryan probably won’t get the job because she’ll be busy making something else as her first film.
Sylvester Stalloneis going to bestarringin the dramaHeadshots, but he’ll no longer be directed byWayne Kramer.Deadlinereports that the latter walked, and the report is that the two men ‘clashed creatively.’ In other words, it’s Stallone’s show and that probably didn’t sit well with Wayne Kramer when decisions started being made. Sly has done the occasional good work as a director (Rocky Balboa? Solid.) and is probably riding a bit higher than normal due to the success ofThe Expendables. Which was pretty much a dud from a directorial standpoint; the film did well because of a massive curiosity factor, not because it was actually good. But he’s going to get his way regardless, and it looks like that’s just howHeadshotsworked out. Question is: will he step in now to direct it himself?
Last up,Meg Ryanwill soon direct her first film,Into the Beautiful.Anne Meredithwrote the script, about “longtime friends reconnecting.“The Big Chillis invoked inVariety’s writeup. We don’t know the rest of the cast, but it probably won’t include the director. Meg Ryan has sort of dropped off the map in the past few years. I can’t pretend to know what happened there, but when an actress known for a specific look does some of what Meg Ryan did to herself with plastic surgery, it might be a factor. Shame about that, but maybe she’ll enter a new career phase as a director.
