UPDATE: As of an April 18 post at Deadline, Gillespie is now officially confirmed as the director.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies better be an amazing film. Since the film version of the project was announced back in December of 2009, we've seen two directors - David O. Russell and Mike White - and one star - Natalie Portman - take on the project before leaving to work on something else. Last we heard, Seth Grahame-Smith, who wrote the book that the film will be based on, was actually considering taking on the project himself, but now it looks like he won't have to.

As first rumored back in February, Deadline is reporting that Craig Gillespie is all but confirmed to direct Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Should the deal be made official, the project will be Gillespie's second venture into the horror genre as his next film, Fright Night, is set to be released this summer. The director's previous work includes Lars and the Real Girl with Ryan Gosling and the Billy-Bob Thorton comedy Mr. Woodcock.

I truly hope that Gillespie sticks with the project, not only because I'm looking forward to seeing a Jane Austen adaptation by way of George A. Romero, but because I'm really sick of writing about this particular director hunt.