Ilan Eshkeri has been hired to score the indie romantic comedy Austenland. The film based on a novel by Shannon Hale marks the directorial debut of Jerusha Hess who is best known for co-writing the screenplay of the 2004 indie hit Napoleon Dynamite with her husband Jared Hess. Austenland stars Keri Russell as a single woman in her 30’s who is obsessed with Mr. Darcy of the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. When she decides to decides to spend her life savings on a trip to a Jane Austen-themed resort in England, the woman’s dream of meeting the perfect Regency-era gentleman becomes more real than she could have imagined. JJ Feild, Bret McKenzie, Jennifer Coolidge, Jane Seymour, Rupert Vansittart and James Callis are co-starring. Stephanie Meyer, author of the Twilight books, is among the producers on the project. No release date has been announced yet, but an opening in 2012 is expected. For updates, visit the official movie website.
The composer’s other upcoming projects include Ralph Fiennes’ Coriolanus, which already opened internationally and is set for a domestic release on January 20, 2012 by the Weinstein Company. Also coming up for Eshkeri is the Jim Sturgess-starring thriller Ashes, which is currently awaiting a release date announcement.
