Following last week's news that Natalie Portman would star in and produce the adaptation of the horror-comedy novel Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which is Seth Grahame-Smith's twist on Jane Austen's classic period romance story, Pajiba reports that David O. Russell (Three Kings, I Heart Huckabees) will direct and and pen the adaptation.  O. Russell wrapped production on The Fighter (starring Christian Bale, Mark Wahlberg, and Amy Adams) last August, so presumably this would be his next film, while his health-care comedy Nailed will apparently continue to languish in post-production limbo due to its financial problems and James Caan quitting the project in the middle of filming.

Russell has a bit of a rep for being a hothead ever since the video of his fight with Lily Tomlin on the set of Huckabees landed on YouTube.  However, he's an auteur who will bring a unique vision to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, but I am curious what drew him to the project, which, based on its premised, would probably be his most mainstream movie to date.