J.J. Feild, Keri Russel and Bret McKenzie are set to headline an indie romantic drama entitled Austenland, says a story at The Hollywood Reporter. The film will mark the directorial debut of Jershua Hess, best known as the co-writer of Napoleon Dynamite alongside her husband, Jared Hess (who directed) and will be produced by “The Twilight Saga” author Stephenie Meyer.
The film is based on a novel by Shannon Hale (who also co-wrote the screenplay with Hess) and is officially described on the author’s site as follows:
Jane Hayes is a seemingly normal young New Yorker, but she has a secret. Her obsession with Mr. Darcy, as played by Colin Firth in the BBC adaptation of “Pride and Prejudice”, is ruining her love life: no real man can compare. But when a wealthy relative bequeaths her a trip to an English resort catering to Austen-crazed women, Janes fantasies of meeting the perfect Regency-era gentleman suddenly become realer than she ever could have imagined.
Decked out in empire-waist gowns, Jane struggles to master Regency etiquette and flirts with gardeners and gentlemenor maybe even, she suspects, with the actors who are playing them. Its all a game, Jane knows. And yet the longer she stays, the more her insecurities seem to fall away, and the more she wonders: Is she about to kick the Austen obsession for good, or could all her dreams actually culminate in a Mr. Darcy of her own?
Russell will play the part of Jane with Feild playing a Darcy-impersonator who works for the resort.
James Callis, Jennifer Coolidge, Jane Seymour and Rupert Vansittart are set to appear in the project as well, set to begin shooting immediately in the UK.
(Photo Credits: David Livingston / Noam Nitzani / Jody Cortes / C.Smith/ WENN.com)
