{Exclusive} Scarlett Johansson To Portray Zelda Fitzgerald In “The Beautiful And The Damned” From Millennium Films

〉 The script, formerly known as Zelda, was featured on both the 2007 and 2008 Black List.

Captain America: Civil War superhero Scarlett Johansson is attached to star in the romantic drama THE BEAUTIFUL AND THE DAMNED from Millennium Films. The script, written by Hanna Weg, was previously featured on both the 2007 and 2008 Black List.

The story centers on the tumultuous and doomed love affair between Jazz Age icons F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda Sayre. Although toasts of the town in the 1920s, their courtship and marriage was festooned with jealousy and acrimony. Fitzgerald used their relationship as material for his novels, and Sayre — who tried hard to find an artistic identity of her own and ended up being admitted to a sanitarium — did the same.

Johansson is set to play Zelda, the spontaneous and independent spirit who became known as “the first American flapper.” Despite her contagious energy, Zelda Fitzgerald was dampened by her relationship with her husband, which ultimately left her unsatisfied, even as she continued to inspire one of the most famous writers of a generation.

Mark Gill will produce for Millennium, with Beth Bruckner overseeing for the studio. Millennium is best known for The Expendables franchise, as well as Olympus Has Fallen, the sequel, London Has Fallen. The company’s latest release is the Kevin Costner thriller, Criminal.

The project was previously in development with Sandbar Pictures and FarFalla Films, with Keira Knightley attached to star. Nick Cassavetes and John Curran were both previously attached to direct. With Johansson attached, it looks as though there’s new life in this jazz age biopic, which details one of the most fascinating relationships of the era.

In addition to Johansson’s commitments to the Avengers – which include a Black Widow solo spinoff movie – she is also attached to the comedy feature Move That Body at Sony and Jay Roach’s adaptation of The Psychopath Test. She can currently be heard in Disney’s The Jungle Book as the dangerously hypnotic voice of Kaa.

She is repped by CAA and LBI Entertainment.

—TO SEE ALL THE PROJECT DETAILS CLICK HERE—

Josh Lyons | Managing Editor