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Bryce Dallas Howard Writing The Originals for Her Father to Direct?

by Alex Billington
June 9, 2009

Universal and Imagine have picked up The Originals, a drama written by actress Bryce Dallas Howard and writing partner Dane Charbeneau (Orchids), that could end up being directed by her father, Ron Howard. Originals is an ensemble film about a group of young friends who reconvene for a weekend in New York after learning that the teacher who shaped their childhoods has fallen into a mysterious coma. This is all one big family affair, as co-writer Charbeneau began dating Bryce's sister Jocelyn while writing and is now engaged to her. Ron Howard hasn't chosen what his next feature is yet coming off of Angels & Demons.

The idea for The Originals started a few years ago, when Bryce took to the idea of writing something that tackled the "quarter-life crisis issues" her contemporaries were dealing with. She called up Charbeneau and the two have been working on the script for the past couple of years. It sounds like an interesting pitch with a bit more to it - or there would've been no reason to include "mysterious" in that plot synopsis. Beyond the fact that it's her father, I think this would actually be a good fit for Ron Howard to direct, as it feels a lot like the kind of stories he's great at bringing to life. We'll be following this to see who does end up directing it.