With the exception of The Fighter, all of David O. Russell's feature films have been based on a script that he wrote. So when the director was hired to make the adaptation of Seth Grahame-Smith's Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, he was also given the task of taking care of the adaptation. That was all the way back in December of 2009, however, and not only has Russell since dropped out, his replacement, Mike White, was also unable to fit the project into his schedule. Yesterday it was announced that Craig Gillespie, director of Lars and the Real Girl and the upcoming Fright Night, would be the next person to try and helm the film. But that doesn't mean that they are completely starting over.
In an interview with EW, Gillespie has confirmed that the project is still moving forward with the original script written by David O. Russell. Describing it as having "a great mix of humor and horror," the director did say that they plan on giving the script a "polish." Gillespie says that despite the film's parodist nature, the story does stick to some of the themes of the original Jane Austen novel, specifically the love story.
"There’s a lot of action in this. There are a lot of big set pieces in this film, which is exciting. Basically, as I said to the studio, at the core it’s a love story between Elizabeth and Darcy. If that’s not working, and we’re not rooting for those two get together through all this craziness, the movie is not going to work. That’s key to me, to have this great emotional story going on, and all this craziness."
I must say that this is really encouraging. In addition to being a great director, David O. Russell is a pretty fantastic writer, as evidenced by Three Kings and Flirting with Disaster. What's interesting is that this will be the first time one of Russell's scripts is being directed by someone else. I'll be curious to hear what he thinks of the final product.
