David Slade to Direct Disney’s Adaptation of ‘Matched’

David Slade is Disney’s choice to direct Matched, a futuristic love story that Adam Shankman and Jennifer Gibgot are producing.

The project is based on the 2010 YA novel by Ally Condie. Michelle and Kieran Mulroney (Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows) wrote the script for the project, which is still in development.

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Set in a future society where people are told what to read, what to watch, what to believe and who to love, the story centers on a young woman who rejects an arranged romance and chooses her own path.

Matched kicked off a series; the third book, Reached, hits stores in November.

Slade is known for his hard-edged fare. He made his debut with Hard Candy, the pedophile-themed Ellen Page thriller, and is coming off directing the pilot for NBC’s Hannibal, centering on the famed fictional serial killer Hannibal Lecter. But his ability to balance teen angst and action in The Twilight Saga: Eclipse is what got Disney execs and the producers thinking he was the man for the Matched job. Slade beat out several other directors for the gig.

He is repped by WME and Anonymous Content.

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