Grahame-Smith’s Third Major Movie Deal
The founder of the literary mashup, Seth Grahame-Smith, has just announced a movie deal for his next book, Unholy Night, (Hachette/Grand Central, 4/10/12) a retelling of the story of the Three Kings of the Nativity.
The film adaptation of Grahame-Smith’s second mashup novel, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, is set to be released (in 3-D, of course) this coming June.
The adaptation of the first in the genre, Pride And Prejudice And Zombies, has had a troubled history. Blake Lively was the latest in a string of actresses to turn down the lead role, following Natalie Portman, Emma Stone, Anne Hathaway, Scarlett Johansson, Mia Wasikowska and Rooney Mara. In late October, the film’s third director left the project.
Marti Noxon, who wrote the most recent script, told Movies.com recently that she finds it a “a little baffling,” that the project is taking so long to get off the ground but feels it’s “very hard to sell a comedy-horror concept” right now, making it “hard to find an actress who is super hot” to play the lead.
That’s likely to change if Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is a success.