David Yates Drops Out of Directing YOUR VOICE IN MY HEAD

Director David Yates took a much deserved rest following the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, as he had directed every Harry Potter film since The Order of the Phoenix.  Late last year he settled on his first post-Potter project, a promising drama based on Emma Forrest’s memoir Your Voice in My Head.  The book chronicles Forrest’s troublesome and self-harming behavior, as well as her relationship with her psychiatrist.  Yates lined up Potter star Emma Watson to take on the challenging lead role, and in an inspired bit of casting Stanley Tucci entered talks to play Watson’s ailing psychiatrist.  Sadly, Yates has just exited the project.  Hit the jump for more.

Per Deadline, Yates was forced to drop out of the film for personal reasons involving a family health situation.  Apparently he really wanted to do the film, and even wished to postpone the project until his personal situation was taken care of, but sadly the writers and producers didn’t want to wait.  I was greatly looking forward to this project, and I’m genuinely sad to see Yates leave.

It’s an interesting case, as Your Voice in My Head was set up at Yates’ Harry Potter studio Warner Bros.  The studio apparently brings almost every script they have to Yates before going on to other directors, and he even considered directing a multi-film adaptation of The Stand for WB.  He honorably decided to do a small, dramatic project as his Potter follow-up, and it’s a bit surprising that the studio wouldn’t show him the courtesy of postponing the film while he settled an issue that was out of his control.  We heard that WB considered the project a strong awards season contender for 2013, so the prospect of pushing a high-profile prestige project back may have been too much for the studio.

There’s no word on the status of the project at the moment, but given that the writers and producers were too antsy to let Yates do the project on his own time, I’m assuming we’ll hear of a director replacement relatively soon.  Deadline’s report mentions that Yates might now make “The Reliable Wife” his next picture for Sony, but they offer no details about that film.  Robert Goolrick wrote a novel called A Reliable Wife, which is a period story set in rural 1909 Wisconsin, so that may be the project that Deadline is talking about.  I wish the best for Yates’ family and eagerly await whatever project he chooses to do next.