Tells the timeless story of a woman’s quest for love and independence amid the outbreak of a deadly virus that turns the undead into vicious killers. The story will revolve around heroine Elizabeth Bennet, who is distracted from her quest to eradicate the zombie menace by the arrival of the arrogant Mr. Darcy.

CATEGORY
Comedy | Zombies

PROJECT DETAILS

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• Writer Marti Noxon shared her thoughts recently on why the project can't seem to get off the ground, saying: "I really can’t say because my experience with Lionsgate was always great. They are committed to doing it and really smart and my experience with Craig [Gillespie] was, again, great. Everybody seemed very pleased with where the script ended up, so it’s really a little baffling. I would say it probably, in my suspicions, has to do with the marketplace. It’s very hard to sell a comedy-horror concept. As much as it’s already pre-sold and popular much in the same way Fright Night was, it’s still a little risky. At the same time, you get a success like Zombieland, but then something will come along that makes people nervous again, so I feel like there’s a little bit of that problem, particularly on the casting side. It’s hard to find an actress who is super hot because they might not be inclined to take a risk on something that has a 70 / 30% chance of working, you know? I think it’s more to do with the marketplace than the logistics of the actual project." (11/25/11)
• Craig Gillespie has left the project, making him the third director to do so.
• Blake Lively (Green Lantern), Rooney Mara (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) and Emma Stone (Zombieland) all passed on the starring role, which producer Natalie Portman was once attached.
• The project was supposedly aimed to begin production in 2011, but the studio is apparently having a hard time finding the proper female lead (many have passed on the role), so filming will now occur sometime in early 2012 (assuming they find the lead by then). (8/19/11)
• Marti Noxon (I Am Number Four) has been brought on board to "polish" the script. Noxon also worked with director Craig Gillespie on the Fright Night remake.
• Craig Gillespie had this to say about the project: "David Russell wrote the script off the book, and it has such a great mix of humor and horror. I just love being able to juggle those two aspects. The humor is inherent in the Pride and Prejudice side, but taking that and accenting it with zombies is just a brilliant and fun idea. And there are such strong female characters, which is nice to have. It's a great clash." He added.. "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."
• Director Craig Gillespie also helmed Lars and the Real Girl and the Fright Night remake.
• Mike White (Year of the Dog) was once attached to direct, but also had to leave due to scheduling conflicts.
• Producer Natalie Portman was initially going to play one of the leads.
• David O. Russell (Three Kings, I Heart Huckabees) was once attached to direct, but left the project due to scheduling conflicts.
• Lionsgate finances and will distribute.
• Described as "an expanded version of the Austen classic."
• Based on the Jane Austen parody book of the same name by Seth Grahame-Smith.

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