Let’s face it: much like the film version of the Uncharted video game, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies was one of those projects that made you cock a quizzical eyebrow at the idea it could be right for David O Russell. Don’t get us wrong – we’d love to have seen what he’d do with Seth Grahame-Smith’s mash up of Jane Austen and George Romero, but now, according to Vulture, it’s not happening, with Russell switching instead to work on Old St Louis with Vince Vaughn.
We wondered how Russell committing to St Louis might affect Natalie Portman’s starring/producing zombie baby back when the pairing of the director with Vaughn was announced. Apparently the dates simply didn’t work out for Pride, and Russell is moving on.
Old St Louis, of course, is a long-gestating pic that has been popping up from time to time through the last few years under various different titles. The version that Vaughn is producing with his sister finds him as a travelling salesman whose busy existence has seen him estranged from his young daughter. A road trip offers them the chance to reconnect, but there’s an added wrinkle: the man’s assistant/lover.
Here’s where the demon of scheduling (we picture it looking like the Apple iCal icon with added rows of sharp teeth and acid drool) comes back into play, as Scarlett Johansson had been seriously contemplating nabbing that role. But with Russell pushing ahead earlier than expected, she’s now likely out of the running due to other work commitments.
Vaughn and Russell might have luck on their side for the other role, however: it may now mean that they can score Chloe Moretz to play the daughter.
None of this is 100% official yet, but we wouldn’t bank on seeing David O Russell’s Pride and Prejudice and Zombies any time soon.