Toppling a totalitarian government is no problem for Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence, but matters of the heart? That’s a different issue entirely. As the actress attends Comic-Con to promote this fall’s The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2, she’s just become attached to The Rosie Project, a romantic dramedy in development at Columbia Pictures.
The pic, based on Graeme Simsion’s book, focuses on a socially inept genetics professor who, baffled by the idea of true love, tries to come up with a scientific survey that will use data analysis to pair him with his “perfect mate.” When he ends up meeting Rosie Jarman, whose whirlwind life stands in stark contrast to everything he thought he was looking for, things get complicated.
The Rosie Project is a definite change of pace for Lawrence, but it boasts a script from (500) Days of Summer duo Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber, who specialize in bittersweet romance and have carved out a solid niche for themselves adapting books by John Green.
Columbia certainly has high hopes for the romance – it had been courting The LEGO Movie directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller, though their new involvement in a Star Wars spinoff focusing on a young Han Solo has taken them off the table. So, the search for a helmer is under way.
Sony is understandably bent on staying in business with Lawrence, one of Hollywood’s most bankable actresses. She’s already attached topline a sci-fi romance called Passengers with Chris Pratt for the studio, and with The Hunger Games winding down, she’s looking toward a variety of projects to fill up her schedule.
The Rosie Project is on the fast track, so we’ll bring you more as we have it.