海角大神

The last time Emma Stone battled the flesh-eating undead onscreen (see: ), she was known as the charming red-head who鈥檇 made an impression with her brief roles in comedies like Superbad andThe House Bunny.

Now, the starlet (who is actually a natural blonde) is up to do battle with the living dead once again, in another darkly comical picture: director Craig Gillespie鈥檚 .

says that Stone has been offered the chance to portray literary icon Elizabeth Bennet in the Zombies adaptation. That would make her the latest popular actress said to be up for the role, following one-time candidate Natalie Portman (who is still onboard as a producer) and rumored starlets like Scarlett Johansson and .

Zombies would be the latest tentpole project to feature Stone, following in the wake of next summer鈥檚 鈥� which features the actress with her natural blonde locks as classic Peter Parker love interest, Gwen Stacy. Stone will also be showing up briefly this summer in comedies like and Crazy, Stupid, Love, and is headlining the pop literary adaptation, .

Assuming Stone accepts the offer to portray Miss Bennet in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, the next big move for the horror/romantic literature mashup would be to fill the role of the infamously stuck-up Mr. Darcy in the film. James McAvoy and Bradley Cooper have been rumored as potentials to play the part before 鈥� though the latter鈥檚 increasingly busy schedule (he鈥檚 attached to star in reboot and has been circling recently) seems to discount him as a serious contender.

One unexpected tidbit mentioned in Variety鈥榮 report is that original Pride and Prejudice and Zombies author Seth Grahame-Smith is reportedly penning the screenplay adaptation with (the scribe behind Gillespie鈥檚 upcoming remake). Gillespie that he would be working from a slightly revised version of David O. Russell鈥檚 script draft, which he described as having 鈥渁 great mix of humor and horror鈥� and loads of action-packed set pieces to boot. In fact, Russell鈥檚 screenplay was said to be the big thing that kept attracting other filmmakers to the adaptation, after the helmer left the project last year.

It鈥檚 a shame then to hear that Russell鈥檚 Zombie screenplay has seemingly been abandoned, especially since it undoubtedly would feature much of his trademark darkly quirky and off-beat humor. On the other hand, Smith鈥檚 work as a screenwriter has seemingly impressed studio heads up to now 鈥� seeing as that he was also trusted with the task of scripting Tim Burton鈥檚 upcoming movie and the adaption of his novel for director Timur Bekmambetov. Plus, Noxon definitely has a knack for mixing horror violence with comedy and romance (see: her work on the original TV series).

Depending on how well-received Gillespie and Noxon鈥檚 Fright Night remake is when it hits theaters this summer, anticipation for their Zombies project could either be significantly heightened or lessened. If the horror-comedy goes down well 鈥� and Stone does sign on as Miss Bennet 鈥� then there鈥檚 definitely potential for the oddball project to become a very popular title.

We鈥檒l keep you posted on the status of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies as more information is released.

Source:

Sandy Schaefer blogs at .

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