Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Loses Its Third Director

It’s been a veritable carousel of suitors for the supernatural literary mashup, and now the third director to sign on to the adaptation of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies has stepped down. Craig Gillespie has reportedly passed on the film adaptation of Seth Grahame-Smith‘s novel, citing a disagreement about casting. The rumor is that they’re looking for an A-lister to play the lead role of Elizabeth Bennett. We’re kind of curious about who Gillespie had in mind that Lionsgate didn’t want, and vice versa. But why is this project such a chronic reject-a-thon? Are we … over zombies?

Before Gillespie (Fright Night, Lars and the Real Girl), both Mike White and David O. Russell (who wrote the screenplay) turned down the project, directors aren’t the only people saying “No” to this gig. It seems like casting is the even bigger issue — Lionsgate seems hell-bent on casting a serious A-lister, but every starlet being offered the role has turned it down: Natalie Portman, Emma Stone, Anne Hathaway, Scarlett Johansson, Blake Lively, and Mia Wasikowska have all passed. Portman, however, remains a producer on the film. Russell had walked away due to the small budget, not feeling like he could accomplish the kind of movie he wanted on $20 to $25 million. White had a scheduling conflict.

An article by Kimberley Potts at Reuters goes into more detail and speculation about what might have suddenly turned filmmakers off to what was seeming like a very hot project. She even posits that the zombie trend might have reached its peak:

The 2009 horror-comedy “Zombieland” is a few years in the rear-view mirror now, “Shaun of the Dead” from way back in 2004 is practically ready for Turner Classic Movies, and while “The Walking Dead” continues to be a ratings bonanza for AMC, zombies may have reached a critical mass.

It seems a bit rash to declare the public’s hunger for the undead, well, dead, but in perspective, Potts is probably onto something. Maybe it’s just Halloween, and zombies and other undead beasties are just in heavy (promotional) rotation, but maybe zombies have reached critical mass. Maybe the filmmakers and actors are looking at PPZ and thinking they’re part of a dying trend. (No pun intended. Okay, pun totally intended.)

Or, if it’s done right, it could be just a really good zombie movie mashed up with a literary classic that has had very good luck on both big and small screens. But it would have to be amazing, and that’s hard to come by.

(Deadline via AV Club, Reuters)

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Jamie Frevele