Like the living dead, the movie adaptation of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies has refused to die, shambling on with development despite having multiple directors and leads over the past several years. Now stateside viewers will get to see zombies roam the countryside of 19th century England on the big screen, as Screen Gems has picked up US distribution rights to the book adaptation that has added two Game of Thrones stars to its ranks.
Deadline reports that today Screen Gems secured the rights to distribute Pride and Prejudice and Zombies in the US, while Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions purchased the rights to release the picture in Latin America, Scandinavia, Eastern Europe and Iceland. The film is scheduled to start principal photography tomorrow.
It was also announced today that Game of Thrones stars Charles Dance and Lena Headey have signed on to play roles in Cross Creek Pictures' Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, joining a cast that includes Lily James, Sam Riley, Bella Heathcote, and the recently added Matt Smith (Doctor Who). James plasy Elizabeth Bennett, Riley portrays Mr. Darcy, Heathcote shall play Elizabeth’s sister, and Smith will take on the role of Mr. Collins. Jack Huston and Douglas Booth round out the core cast. Among the producers is Natalie Portman, who was once in line to star before departing the project.
In the film, “the heroine, Liz Bennett (James), is pressured by her family to marry into a wealthy upper-class home but chafes at the stiff social mores of Victorian England. Instead, she feels that she should help defend the countryside against the onslaught of a horrifying zombie plague.”
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies will be directed by Burr Steers (Igby Goes Down, 17 Again) off a screenplay by himself and David O. Russell. Along with Craig Gillespie and Mike White, Russell was once attached to direct the adaptation of the 2009 Seth Grahame-Smith horror comedy novel of the same name, itself a parody of Jane Austen’s 1813 classic work of literature, Pride and Prejudice. We’ll keep Daily Dead readers updated on any further announcements.
It's unknown at this time what characters Charles Dance and Lena Headey will play. Many genre fans are familiar with Headey, who played the top villain "Ma-Ma" in 2012's Dredd, as well as key roles in 300 and The Purge. She's also set to star in Jacqueline Ess, a film adaptation of Clive Barker's Books of Blood Volume 2 short story, Jacqueline Ess: Her Will and Testament, that is expected to begin filming this fall. Horror hounds may remember Dance's turn as Clemens in David Fincher's Alien 3.
Raised on a steady diet of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Derek has been fascinated with fear since he first saw ForeverWare being used on an episode of Eerie, Indiana.
When he’s not writing about horror as the Senior News Reporter for Daily Dead, Derek can be found daydreaming about the Santa Carla Boardwalk from The Lost Boys or reading Stephen King and Brian Keene novels.
Daily Dead's Official Podcast! Daily Dead's Official Podcast!
