It's been a while since we've heard something official concerning the movie adaptation of
Pride & Prejudice & Zombies, a horror mashup novel written by Seth Grahame-Smith. Last we heard, director Craig Gillespie dropped out of the production after several unsuccessful attempts to secure a female lead. Now, in an interview with
Collider, Grahame-Smith says that there is a script for the adaptation, but Lionsgate is hesitant about going forward with it due to how it may appeal to the general audience. The writer also talks about Tim Burton's
Dark Shadows (which Grahame-Smith wrote) and
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (another novel-turned-film of his), comparing the different tones between the two.
On The Current Status Of The Pride & Prejudice & Zombies Adaptation...
"The status of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies right now is to be determined. I think there’s still a will at Lionsgate to do it. What I’m hoping is that Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter comes out, does well, and there’s more of an appetite for this kind of thing. But then again, Snow White and the Huntsman should come out and do well and that should renew an appetite for Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. I’m pretty confident that sooner or later that movie’s gonna see the light of day, frankly it’s just waiting for the right combination of director and star to come together.
“Definitely the script is there. David O. Russell wrote a great draft, Marti Noxon revised that draft, so right there you have two great writers from different backgrounds. One is very in tune with the Buffy universe, one with more of an indie sensibility and everything. The script is great; this is not a script issue at all. I think it’s a timing issue. I think that sooner or later the right director and the right star are gonna get their hands on that script and that movie’s gonna go.”
On The Tone Of Dark Shadows...
“[Dark Shadows] is a completely different type of movie [from Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter]. It’s much more overtly funny, it’s PG-13 it’s not R, I would say it’s probably a little more family-oriented than Lincoln in its R-rating gore fest. I think the trailer has kind of confused a couple people because they’re like, ‘Wait, is this not dark? Is it not shadowy? Is it all humor?’ That’s not the case; we have a very funny movie which has some very dark, gothic elements in it.
“To me it’s more of a harkening back to the Sleepy Hollow or Beetlejuice Tim [Burton] movies. It’s not as broadly family as Alice in Wonderland is, or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, it’s a little darker than that. It’s very different, and it’s epic.”
For more from Grahame-Smith, in which he discusses the movie adaptation of his upcoming novel
Unholy Night, click the link below.
While we're on the subject of
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (out June 22nd), here are two new wall posters for the upcoming horror film. Thanks to
Nailbiter111 for the heads up.