Well, this one stings. THR reports that Jennifer Lawrence, who just this morning released a short but effective letter rallying against pay inequality between male and female actors, announced today that she will be dropping out of The Rosie Project, one of the more promising works currently percolating for Richard Linklater. There hasn't been an official reason given for her leaving the project, but the almost simultaneous announcement that Lawrence will next be starring in Darren Aronofsky's expectedly enigmatic next project certainly gives a bit of a hint as to where the decision came from. Seeing as Linklater is one of the preeminent American auteurs working today, following up Boyhood, the most successful and ambitious film of his career, the idea of him pairing with Lawrence seemed both surprising and natural, and one can hope that they'll get a chance to re-team in the future.
In the meantime, Lawrence is finishing filming Passengers, Morten Tyldum's follow-up to The Imitation Game, and will be leading Stephen Spielberg's It's What I Do sometime soon after. Beyond that, however, Lawrence's schedule is pretty clear, with her final appearances in The Hunger Games and X-Men franchises coming quite soon, and her latest re-teaming with David O. Russell, Joy, coming out later this year. Adapted from Graeme Simsion's novel of the same name, The Rosie Project would have likely been her next film, but the film will go on without her, as Sony is now scrambling to find an actress to replace her. As for Linklater, he's currently in post-production for Everybody Wants Some, his spirit-sequel to Dazed and Confused, his early masterwork, and will be serving as a producer on the School of Rock television show which is currently in pre-production at Nickelodeon. So, as much as I'm sure The Rosie Project would have made for a great collaboration between two tremendously talented artists, both Lawrence and Linklater have plenty of promising work on their plates.
