Nick Cassavetes may be a lot of things-- the director of the insanely successful romance The Notebook, son of legendary director John Cassavetes-- but he's not a guy who screams "high-toned period piece." Luckily, John Curran is, and he's replaced Cassavetes as the director of The Beautiful and the Damned, the story of writer F. Scott Fitzgerald and his totally loony wife, Zelda.
Keira Knightley, of course, will be starring as Zelda-- is there a period piece she won't star in?-- and has been on board since Cassavetes was the director. Variety doesn't explain what happened to Cassavetes, just that he "fell out along the way," which could mean basically anything. Maybe there was a Nicholas Sparks novel that needed adapting?
Curran, who directed the 2006 period piece The Painted Veil as well as We Don't Live Here Anymore, seems like a much better fit for the material, but he'll have to get on board quick-- filming begins in March.
