Apparently since Hollywood has filled positions for every conceivable comic book adaptation (for now), the hottest script without a director is the adaptation of Seth Grahame-Smith's novel Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. As of yesterday, Mike Newell (Prince of Persia), Neil Marshall (Doomsday) and David Slade (30 Days of Night, Twilight: Eclipse) were in the mix. Now add Jonathan Demme, Mike White (Year of the Dog), Matt Reeves (Cloverfield, Let Me In) and Phil Lord and Chris Miller (Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs). Most likely, Steven Spielberg and Uwe Boll will be in talks by tomorrow. In any case, what better way to spend Wednesday morning than brainstorming even more directors to add to this no-longer short list? Movieline's suggestions are after the jump!
1. Ang Lee
Sure his last foray into a huge studio movie didn't go so well, but he's already proven he's adept with the Victorian era with Sense and Sensibility, and his high standards ensure that every head explosion will look as good as it possibly can. Lee's taken major risks with a Chinese-language erotic thriller and that one cowboy love story -- it's time for him to really challenge himself by adding zombies to his oeuvre. He'd hit it out of the park.
2. Tim Burton
A macabre, Victorian-era tale of love and the undead, huh? And the director of Prince of Persia was mentioned before Burton? Interesting...
3. James Gunn
Gunn already has more street-cred for this type of thing than anybody mentioned since he wrote the script for the cult-classic, revisionist Shakespeare splatter-fest Tromeo and Juliet. Besides that, his directorial debut Slither was one of the few recent "horror-comedies" that was actually funny. And apparently he shows even more skill balancing brutal violence and comedy in his Toronto Film Festival hit Super.
4. Sam Raimi
If studios think Gunn doesn't have enough experience, then look to the godfather of splatter-comedy. Raimi can handle the budget, the pressure, the scope -- and he directed Evil Dead 2. Win.
5. Wayne Kramer
Ever since I witnessed the scene of Paul Walker screaming questions at a man who was literally on fire in Kramer's "urban fairy-tale" Running Scared, I've been waiting for him to flex his muscles with something bigger. Then his follow-up Crossing Over opened and it looked like a Crash rip-off. But this project is perfect! Hiring Kramer would ensure by far the most over-the-top take possible on this ridiculous novel. Roger Ebert will back me up.