As expected, the loss of David O. Russell and Natalie Portman were far from a bullet to the head of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. The godfather of Quirk Classics is still shambling around Hollywood, and it seems to have found a new director to fill the big, angry shoes that Russell left empty a few months ago.

Deadline has it that School of Rock writer Mike White will be the new man in charge of getting this movie to the big screen. His directorial resume is very short, but his writing credits are enough to get the general public interested. He’s currently working on Enlightened, an HBO series starring Laura Dern.

Sure, he’s not a name like Michael Bay or Steven Spielberg, where you know what you’re going to get, but he seems like the type of guy who will do this type of book justice--a nerd. Last we heard Scarlett Johansson and Bradley Cooper were interested in the leads, but with the personnel swap, we’re not sure who will show up on set now. Stay tuned, this is likely to develop quickly.