While The Rosie Project Deadline, Richard Linklater might be Sony’s guy, or at least he is the studio’s prime target.
[amz asin=”1476729093″ size=”small”]Adapted from Graeme Simsion‘s book of the same name, The Rosie Project tells the story of 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), a woman who doesn’t possess any of the qualities he’s looking for yet becomes irresistible to him.
For anyone who listens to TED talks as much as I do, the Tillman character sounds an awful lot like a male version of Amy Webb, who took to spreadsheets and surveys to find a solution to her disastrous love life, or Hannah Fry, who explains the mathematics behind finding a mate. Based on his work Linklater seems more of a romantic than Tillman comes across in the plot description, though Tillman’s ideas being upended by a mismatched woman could be the sort of thing to draw the interest of the Oscar-nominated director.
Another curious bit is that Linklater tends to write most of the films he directs, from Dazed and Confused and the Before trilogy to Boyhood and Everybody Wants Some — which was just yesterday set for an April 15,2016 release date — but The Rosie Project would see him directing from a script by Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber.
Neustadter and Weber have previously written (500) Days of Summer, The Spectacular Now and The Fault in Our Stars, three films I like to varying degrees, and while I’ve not read Simsion’s novel the screenwriting pair’s track record suggests The Rosie Project will be worth checking out. Brad thoroughly trashed Paper Towns, the duo’s most recent adaptation, but if Linklater does indeed get behind the camera for The Rosie Project I can only assume something good will result.
