He’s mostly known for period dramas like Atonement, Pride & Prejudice and Anna Karenina, with a few curveballs like Hanna and The Soloist thrown in for good measure. Now director Joe Wright may be adding a “moral crisis” drama to his list.
Wright is currently in talks to direct The Lifeboat, a drama based on the book by Charlotte Rogan, which already has Oscar-winner Anne Hathaway attached to star and produce. It would reunite Wright with Working Title, after the aforementioned Atonement, Pride & Prejudice and Anna Karenina, while it would reunite the studio with Hathaway following their Oscar-winning collaboration on Les Miserables.
Deadline has the plot:
A young newlywed-turned-widow standing trial in 1914 for murder. The story recounts how with the help of her new husband she survived the sinking of the Empress, a transatlantic ocean liner. She finds herself on a lifeboat, only to discover there are too many people on board, leading to a moral crisis as to who stays and who has to go.
If he signs on the dotted line, Wright will be directing from a script by Castaway scribe William Broyles Jr, whose work on that film seems well-suited to this material. As for Wright, this would see him back in period form, so to speak, albeit not in his exact comfort zone. His latest film is Pan, a big-budget origin story blockbuster of the famous Peter Pan story, set for release on October 16th.
Source: Deadline