Pride And Prejudice And Zombies, the parody novel of Jane Austen’s 1813 original by Seth Grahame-Smith, has found its lead actress, offering the role of Elizabeth Bennet to the rising star, Emma Stone, THR report.
The role was originally to go to Natalie Portman, but Portman eventually decided that she would serve only as a producer on the project, and after talk of Elizabeth to be played by Mia Wasikowska or Anne Hathaway, Stone has instead emerged as the favourite for the film, and the role is now hers for the taking.
Fans of Stone’s will of course remember that this wouldn’t be her first role in a zombie film, starring in 2009’s zombie comedy, Zombieland, as Wichita, alongside Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, and Abigail Breslin. It was a role that really put her on people’s radars after gaining popularity in the teen comedy, Superbad, two years earlier. Both the original novel and Grahame-Smith’s parody are set in England, so whether or not we can expect to hear Stone sporting an English accent awaits to be seen. She’s shown already in her career how much energy she brings to her characters, which is what Elizabeth will need to thwart the zombie infestation.
The film is to be directed by Craig Gillespie, director of Academy Award-nominated Lars and the Real Girl, whose Fright Night remake will be coming to our cinemas at the start of September this year, starring Colin Farrell, Anton Yelchin, David Tennant, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse. Whilst a zombie comedy is very different to what Gillespie’s worked on prior to Fright Night, the fact that DreamWorks entrusted the remake of Fright Night to him shows that he must be capable of taking on these projects.
As much as I would have loved to see Natalie Portman holding her own against zombies in early 19th-century England, I am a big fan of Emma Stone’s too, and can’t wait to see her take on this role. It’s been a busy couple of years for Stone since the success of Zombieland. She was exceptional in the lead in last year’s Easy A, which was the best John Hughes-esque film I’ve ever seen that wasn’t made by the writer-director himself. And we can look forward to seeing her in Friends With Benefits; Crazy, Stupid, Love.; and The Help, all by the end of this year. She’s also earned the lead female role in the upcoming The Amazing Spider-Man as Gwen Stacy, Peter Parker’s love interest, which is due out in July next year, and after now being offered the lead in Pride And Prejudice And Zombies, 2012 and 2013 are looking to be just as busy and just as successful for the rising actress as the past few years have been. If you ask me, it’s very much well deserved.
