Last month when David O. Russell won the gig to direct video game adaptation Drake's Fortune, it left Pride and Prejudice and Zombies with a job to fill. They already lost out on Natalie Portman starring as the main character of Elizabeth Bennet, but there was no worry that the production would suddenly fall into limbo. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is arguably the hottest property going right now, based on Seth Grahame-Smiths' novel merging the Jane Austen classic with undead braineaters.
The LA Times is reporting that Lionsgate is narrowing down the list of candidates for the directing gig, with Mike White emerging as the clear frontrunner. White has only one directing credit to his name, the 2007 comedy, Year of the Dog
. Not a particular favorite of mine. In fact I wanted to walk out of the theater and strangle all of my dog loving friends afterwards. As a writer, White's accomplishments are much greater. He wrote the script for Jennifer Aniston's most solid film to date, The Good Girl
, not to mention Jack Black's best flick, School of Rock
. He appeared briefly in Zombieland
last year(the dude on the toilet), and competed in The Amazing Race alongside his father. White's specialty is dark humor, a trait that would suit him well in a movie like this.
