‘Passengers’ star Jennifer Lawrence to team up with ‘Inferno’ director Ron Howard for Zelda Fitzgerald biopic

By Daphne Planca / Nov 20, 2016 05:15 PM EST
(Photo : Getty Images/Frederick M. Brown) Actress Jennifer Lawrence attended the 2016 AMD British Academy Britannia Awards presented by Jaguar Land Rover and American Airlines at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on Oct. 28 in Beverly Hills, California.
(Photo : Getty Images/Sean Gallup) Exclusive Coverage Director Ron Howard attended the press conference for the "Inferno" Germany premiere on Oct. 10 in Berlin, Germany.
(Photo : Getty Images/Hulton Archive) American author F Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940) danced with his wife Zelda Fitzgerald (nee Sayre) (1900-1948) and daughter Frances (aka 'Scottie') in front of the Christmas tree in Paris.

"Passengers" star Jennifer Lawrence is set to team up with "Inferno" director Ron Howard for Zelda Fitzgerald biopic. She is gearing up to play the famous Jazz Age icon socialite.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, "Zelda" also reunites Lawrence with "Hunger Games" executive Allison Shearmur. Shearmur is a former Lionsgate executive and worked with the actress when she made her megastar turn as the lead in "The Hunger Games." She is on board to produce the project.

The drama is currently titled "Zelda" and follows the jazz icon. Zelda is married to the famed author F. Scott Fitzgerald and his indispensable muse and fiercest competitor. She tries to find her own voice in the jazz music scene as her husband rises through the ranks of great American novelists, Variety reported.

"Zelda" explored the question: Can love exist between creative equals? She was born in Montgomery, Alaska. She was dubbed by her husband as the first American flapper, but her life descended into madness when she was diagnosed with schizophrenia.

"Zelda" is produced by "Hacksaw Ridge" Brian Oliver along with Lawrence and Oliver's producing partner Justine Ciarrocchi. Its script is penned by "The White Queen" screenwriter Emma Frost. It is optioned from Nancy Milford's best-selling biography of the same name as the inspiration and financed by Oliver's Cross Creek Pictures.

Lawrence seems to have taken an interest in playing real-life figures. She recently starred her fourth Oscar-nominated role in David O. Russell's "Joy." She is currently attached to play the founder Elizabeth Holmes of the health-technology and medical-laboratory-services company Theranos in Adam McKay's "Bad Blood." She will also star as war photographer Lynsey Addario in Steven Spielberg's drama "It's What I Do."

Lawrence will next be seen in Sony's sci-fi space romance "Passengers" opposite Chris Pratt, which opens Dec. 21. She is also set to star in Darren Aronofsky's upcoming project with Javier Bardem, which bows next year.

Scarlett Johansson has also been attached to "The Beautiful and the Damned" about Zelda as well. However, it is still unclear whether the Lawrence's "Zelda" project or Johansson's will head to production first.

Watch the video of Jennifer Lawrence cast as lead role in "Zelda":