Blake Lively Reportedly Up for Lead Role in PRIDE & PREJUDICE & ZOMBIES

Director Craig Gillespie (Lars and the Real Girl, Fright Night) is said to have met with the Green Lantern actress for the role of Elizabeth Bennett in his upcoming horror novel adaptation.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains.” So begins Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, an expanded edition of the beloved Jane Austen novel featuring all-new scenes of bone-crunching zombie mayhem. As our story opens, a mysterious plague has fallen upon the quiet English village of Meryton and the dead are returning to life! Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet is determined to wipe out the zombie menace, but she’s soon distracted by the arrival of the haughty and arrogant Mr. Darcy.

What ensues is a delightful comedy of manners with plenty of civilized sparring between the two young lovers and even more violent sparring on the blood-soaked battlefield as Elizabeth wages war against hordes of flesh-eating undead. Can she vanquish the spawn of Satan? And overcome the social prejudices of the class-conscious landed gentry?

Craig Gillespie was confirmed to helm Pride and Prejudice and Zombies after a long list of directors including David O. Russell, Jonathan Demme, Mike White, Matt Reeves and author Seth Grahame-Smith himself passed on the project. Now the production is facing difficulty landing a leading lady, as Emma Stone, Natalie Portman (who is an acting producer on the project), Mia Wasikowska and Scarlett Johansson have all passed on the part.

The latest report names Gossip Girl and Green Lantern starlet Blake Lively as the most recent candidate for the role of Elizabeth Bennet after meeting with the film's director, though it is still unclear if an offer has been extended her way.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies has yet to establish a theatrical release date, though a video game tie in as well as both prequel and sequel comics are currently in production.