Hollywood Ink: Natalie Portman Promises the Period Zombie Film We've All Been Waiting For

· Natalie Portman has latched on to produce and star in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, an adaptation of Seth Grahame-Smith's own horror-slanted adaptation of the classic Jane Austen novel. Portman will naturally play heroine Elizabeth Bennet, who must battle the undead throughout her troubled, turbulent courtship with the arrogant Mr. Darcy. Lionsgate is underwriting the whole thing, so expect some splattery genre edge. And why not? Brains were so much more dense and delicious in the early 18th century. [Variety]

James Cameron feels Fantastic, J.J. Abrams feels New York-y, and more Hollywood Ink after the jump.

· How can James Cameron follow an unprecedented visual tour de force like Avatar? He'll start by looking inward -- literally -- and preparing to produce a remake of the 1966 sci-fi benchmark Fantastic Voyage. Shane Salerno will direct the story of miniaturized scientists injected into a peer's body to help save his life, likely using much of the 3-D motion-capture technology Cameron and Co. painstakingly developed for his new blockbuster. The production will stall around week two when the computer effects programs fail to convert the ill scientist's white blood cells to anything less than 10 feet tall and blue. [Variety]

· J.J. Abrams's Bad Robot banner has optioned Colum McCann's novel Let the Great World Spin for the screen, comprising overlapping narratives set against the backdrop of decrepit, dying New York and Phillipe Petit's 1974 WTC highwire act. Whatever; it's probably just a ruse for a Cloverfield prequel or something. [THR

· Bryce Dallas Howard has joined the ensemble of Clint Eastwood's death drama Hereafter, portraying an unspecified character opposite Matt Damon. [Variety]

· Danny McBride has joined his North Carolina pals David Gordon Green and Jody Hill and former Warner Bros. executive Matt Reilly to form the comedy production company Rough House. There will be mullets. [THR]