From the moment the “Harry Potter” series finished, Emma Watson has (mostly) steered clear of major tentpoles, opting instead to flex her muscles in smaller-scale films. While “My Week With Marilyn” didn’t give her much to do except get walked all over, she shone in “The Perks Of Being A Wallflower” and is pitch perfectly airheaded in “The Bling Ring.” And right now in theaters, she gets what is arguably one of the best moments/sequences in “This Is The End.” And oh yeah, she’s getting all Biblical with Darren Aronofsky‘s “Noah” next spring. But now, she’s ready for another franchise.
Watson is reteaming with ‘Potter’ producer David Heyman for “Queen of the Tearling.” An adaptation of the first book in a trilogy by Erika Johansen, whose lead character partially came to life thanks to no less than Barack Obama and a 2007 speech he gave (writers: keep your idea pads with you at all times), Variety says the story “is set three centuries after an environmental catastrophe when a malevolent Red Queen holds considerable power.” Comparisons to “Game Of Thrones” are being tossed around, well, because.
A director and writer still need to be found, so this is a ways off and hell, the book series doesn’t even start to get published until 2014, so there’s plenty of time. But either way, sounds like another big step in Watson’s already eventful career.
