Reports are surfacing this afternoon that Twilight: Eclipse director David Slade has landed the gig at Disney to direct Matched–a film based on an Ally Condie young adult novel with themes of breaking predestination. Naturally, since this is set against the backdrop of a dystopian future with two follow-up books, this has been given potential blockbuster status at the Mouse House who reportedly had a handful of suitors vying for the gig.
Ultimately, the job went to David Slade because of his work on Twilight and his other impressive credentials. The director has credits on Breaking Bad, the pilot of last year’s Awake, and the pilots for the yet-to-be-screened Hannibal and This American Housewife. There is no word on whether he will be working on the sequels should this go well, but that is customary in the industry where that generally is up to the man behind-the-camera and not necessarily the suits in charge.
Adam Shankman (Rock of Ages) is producing from a script by Ally Condie and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows writer Kieran Mulroney. While A Game of Shadows did not click with audiences as much as its predecessor, the plot was significantly better culminating in a grandiose showdown between Robert Downey, Jr. and Jared Harris’ respective characters. This should give fans of the book series hope that Matched will turn out successful given that Slade has proven to be as strong as his source material in the past.