Potentially unpopular opinion ahoy: Richard Curtis is a pretty great writer. Don't get us wrong, we don't like "Love Actually" or "Pirate Radio"/"The Boat That Rocked" any more than you do, but "Four Weddings and a Funeral," "Notting Hill" and "Bridget Jones' Diary" make up as good a run of rom-coms as anyone has ever had (particularly when compared to the dismal current state of the genre), and his lower-key, more emotional work on the likes of "The Girl in the Cafe," "Doctor Who" episode "Vincent and the Doctor" and the currently-in-theaters "War Horse," is undervalued.
It's been three years since he last directed a film, the aforementioned "Pirate Radio," but it looks like he's getting back together with the house that Curtis built, Working Title Films, who are riding high off the success of "Senna," "Johnny English Reborn," "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" and "Contraband," for a new project. The Hollywood Reporter say that Curtis will direct "About Time" for the British company, who've backed both his directorial efforts to date, from his own script.
Described as a low-budget time-travel dramedy, the film will again be produced by Working Title toppers Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner, and casting is currently underway for a shoot in the summer. Curtis has had a number of other projects on his slate, including penning "Trash" for Stephen Daldry, a reunion with "Blackadder" co-writer Ben Elton, and an untitled script about malaria in Africa, but this seems to have taken precedence.
And it seems like the right sort of move, a low-budget, high-concept kind of project after the bloat of "Love Actually" and "Pirate Radio" will hopefully bring the finished product closer to his earlier works than anything else. We're certainly intrigued to know more, with casting hopefully happening sooner rather than later.