Richard Linklater Wanted For Jennifer Lawrence Rom-Com

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As one of the hottest names in cinema last year, Richard Linklater could probably have followed Boyhood with anything Hollywood wanted to throw his way. But he’s never been a mainstream kind of guy. Domestically, he’s never gotten close to a $100m picture, and when all was said and done with the acclaim and prestige accolades of his latest, the effort really wasn’t that much of a box office blowout, even if it was at least very profitable. That’s also appealing for Hollywood, though, that he can work with a low budget and make a decent return on the investment.

Sony has seemingly done well by him on the Before trilogy, each of which grossed at least double its budget at home (Before Midnight also did very well overseas). So, they seem like the proper studio to work with Linklater on an A-list movie with one of the biggest actresses in the world right now. Deadline reports the filmmaker is first choice to direct Jennifer Lawrence in The Rosie Project. It’s no Hunger Games or X-Men, but the two of them together could deliver something as major as her collaborations with David O. Russell.

Maybe a little lighter, as the adaptation is a rom-com, based on a book by Graeme Simsion and scripted by (500) Days of Summer and Paper Towns writers Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber (they also did The Pink Panther 2, by the way). Lawrence will play the eventual love interest of a genetics professor whom she’s technically all wrong for, by his scientific calculations. With the popular Before movies, Linklater has shown that he gets fated relationships. Will he get the job? Will he be a good fit for Lawrence’s talent? We’ll see.

Next up for us – Linklater’s actual follow-up to Boyhood, is the again-untitled spiritual sequel to Dazed and Confused (past titles have been That’s What I’m Talking About and Everybody Wants Some). That movie, about a college baseball team in the early ’80s, has just been scheduled by Paramount to open on April 16, 2016.

Watch Simsion tell you about his book “The Rosie Project”:

Related Topics: Jennifer Lawrence

Christopher Campbell began writing film criticism and covering film festivals for a zine called Read, back when a zine could actually get you Sundance press credentials. He's now a Senior Editor at FSR and the founding editor of our sister site Nonfics. He also regularly contributes to Fandango and Rotten Tomatoes and is the President of the Critics Choice Association's Documentary Branch.