Even though filmmaking duo Phil Lord and Chris Miller have spread themselves out pretty well — including making two movies just last year — their newly-announced Han Solo-spin-off is certainly going to be eating up a huge chunk of their time. So what was going to be their next film, The Rosie Project, will need some occupancies in their director’s chairs. Sony hasn’t had any trouble filling in a star for the titular role, though, and it’s a big get: Jennifer Lawrence.
Although no replacements were announced yet for Lord and Miller, Sony is still putting this movie on the fast-track as they quickly search for a replacement or two to call the shots. There’s no release date or production line-up scheduled at least publicly, so it’s not as though they’re trying to get this one in before a certain deadline.
That said, they probably want to get this thing rolling as soon as they can. With Lawrence currently shooting her role in X-Men: Apocalypse (supposedly her last time putting on the blue make-up) and then moves on to star with fellow modern superstar Chris Pratt in the long-gestured sci-fi film Passengers — also housed by Sony — presumably around this fall, chances are producers Matt Tolmach and Michael Costigan want Lawrence to shoot her role in the movie right after she finishes up promotional rounds for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay– Part 2 and Joy at the end of the year. Particularly before she, once again, has to go around selling the aforementioned superhero movie before May 27.
[amz asin=”1476729093″ size=”small”]Adapted from Graeme Simsion‘s Australian book of the same name by screenwriting mega-hitters Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber ((500) Days of Summer, The Spectacular Now, The Fault in Our Stars, this month’s Paper Towns), The Rosie Project tells the story of a socially-awkward genetic professor Don Tillman who comes up with a scientifically-sound survey to find his perfect mate. Things get more complicated, however, when he meets Rosie Jarman (Lawrence), someone who doesn’t possess any of the qualities he’s looking for. Because after all, opposites attract and yada yada.
Although I haven’t yet seen Paper Towns, Neustadter and Weber are four-for-four with me right now, and I’ll continue championing them until they do wrong. They have a great talent for taking the humor and wit of their source material, along with the character and heart, and making it accessible to a feature-film even when they’re extracting specific plot beats and moments at the same time. I’m currently finishing up John Green‘s “Paper Towns” just to see how they’ll do.
I haven’t read Simsion’s book either, but I’m sure they can do just that with this movie. They’ve proven their aces at writing rom-coms with their 2009 indie screenplay, and hopefully the magic’s still in store with this new adaptation of theirs. Then again, they did also help pen Pink Panther 2… [THR]
