She must have been playing her cards close to the chest. Just a week after teasing her filmmaking ambitions, screenwriter Diablo Cody (“Juno,” “Jennifer’s Body“) has unveiled what will become her debut directorial effort. A self-penned comedy called, “Lamb Of God,” the picture will follow a young conservative religious woman who loses her faith after a plane crash, decides to go to Las Vegas to live the life of a sinner, and on her journey finds her way back to her faith according to a press release.
Mason Novick, Cody’s manager and producer of “Juno” and Jason Reitman‘s upcoming “Young Adult” which she also wrote, will produce and along with Mandate Pictures. Mandate president Nathan Kahane will executive produce alongside Diablo Cody. The picture is said to be fast-tracking its production and cast will begin shortly.
Will this topic grab the zeitgeist the same way “Juno” did? It might not be of Cody’s concern as she recently said that when she’s writing, she shuts out the world.
“I have not read a review, or anything online period, since September of 2009,” she said at a recent Q&A during the L.A. Film Festival. “I’m clean and sober. I’ve been on a long, long media fast. I kind of write in a bubble but, unfortunately, that policy is going to have to change if and when I ever direct because I think it is important as a filmmaker and an auteur to be getting that kind of feedback and response form your audience. But as a writer, I’m in a vacuum.”
“Lamb Of God” will be the third collaboration between Cody, Novick and Mandate after their partnerships on “Juno,” and “Young Adult,” the latter of which Paramount will likely release in the fall. “Having been in the trenches with Diablo and Mason [before], we immediately jumped at the opportunity to partner with them again. It’s an honor to be a part of Diablo’s transition as a director,” Kahane said.
The picture will also mark Cody’s fourth script starring a female protagonist. We were impressed with “Young Adult,” a screenplay we called her most mature to date, featuring an unapologetically nasty main character, so we’re definitely still rooting for her.