Yesterday, we got the news that Jennifer Lawrence dropped out of director Richard Linklater's romantic dramedy The Rosie Project. Now THR reports that Linklater has also exited the project. So basically, this just turned into an all around bummer.
Based on the Graeme Simison book, the story follows a genetics professor who devises a very specific questionarre to help find him to the perfect partner. He is thrown for a loop when Rosie Jarman, a swearing, smoking, chronically late bartender, who fills none of his criteria of the woman he should technically be with, stumbles into his life, turning his regimented life upside down. The script comes from (500) Days of Summer and The Fault in Our Stars screenwriters Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber and was originally developed as a directorial vehicle for Lord and Miller before they had to officially depart after signing on to helm the Star Wars Han Solo movie. Clearly this is a quality script that keeps attracting some of the biggest names in the industry, so I wouldn't be surprised to see someone else pick it up in the near future.
While it seemed that Lawrence dropped out of The Rosie Project in order to star in Darren Aronofsky's next film, given the timing of the two stories, the new report states that Lawrence needed a break after jumping from movie to movie. She filmed the massive X-Men: Apocalypse over the spring and summer, is currently shooting Passengers with Chris Pratt, and will soon be heading into a promotional tour for the Mockingjay -- Part 2, the final installment in the massive Hunger Games franchise. The studio wanted to film The Rosie Project in the winter, but Lawrence need some time off.
As for Linklater, he’s currently in post-production on his Dazed and Confused spiritual sequel, Everybody Wants Some (previously titled That’s What I’m Talking About), which will hit theaters in April 2016. He will also serve as a producer on the new Nickelodeon School of Rock series. Back in February, we learned that Linklater was in talks to helm an adaptation of the bestselling novel Where’d You Go Bernadette (also scripted by Neustadter & Weber) for Annapurna Pictures, but there hasn't been an update on that project since and the status is unknown.
