By Blake Lively, best known dating Leonardo DiCaprio and appearances in Gossip Girl, Green Lantern and many remarkable photos on the internet, has reportedly been offered the lead role in the ever-troubled production of Pride & Prejudice & Zombies. Natalie Portman was originally attached, but since she left, the part has been passed around Emma Stone, Scarlett Johansson, Mia Wasikowska and Anne Hathaway with no success.
A couple of things jump out about this news. The first is that Lively is a big step down from the standard of star power that the script has been sent to so far. The second is that none of the actresses are English – although several of them have a history of dreadful attempts at the accent – and none of them bear the slightest resemblance to Elizabeth Bennet. To me, this kind of project relies on getting the source material (Pride & Prejudice) right and creating comedy by putting the more outlandish elements on top of it. The joke doesn’t work if you don’t really believe it’s Pride & Prejudice suffering a zombie attack.
My view is that the role should be offered to Keira Knightley, who previously won an Oscar for her portrayal of Elizabeth in the 2005 adaptation. Still, given how many difficulties the production has had just keeping people on board, let alone recruiting new talent, don’t hold out much hope for anything special.
[via Collider]