Scarlett Johansson Finds Summer Novella

Get a director’s chair ready, because actress Scarlett Johansson is prepping for her first job behind the camera. Is she ready to tackle material from Truman Capote? No one ever said she didn’t like a challenge.

In the news this week, Capote’s so-called “lost novella” has been adapted into a screenplay by the hand of playwright Tristine Skyler and producers have agreed to support Scarlett Johansson to direct the picture and embrace her directorial debut. Those producers are heavy-hitters in their own right. Barry Spikings won an Oscar for The Deer Hunter and has teamed up with Peter D. Graves and the Truman Capote Literary Trust.

The movie and the novel are called Summer Crossing. The tale is set in New York shortly after the end of WWII. The main character is an 18-year-old girl struggling to discover her own identity. First she’ll have to get free of the shackles of society life and her overbearing wealthy family. I wonder who Johannson will cast as the leading lady. You can bet I’ll be following any updates to be had regarding this project.

According to Variety, Summer Crossing is described as “lost” because Capote wrote it in the 1940s and it sort of slipped away from view for half a century. It wasn’t until then it was re-discovered and finally published.

Until Summer Crossing begins production fans can still catch Johansson in front of the camera, rather than behind it, in such pictures as We Bought a Zoo, Under the Skin, and super hero flick The Avengers. So, what can’t Johansson do? You know she sings as well, don’t you?