Scott Cooper to Direct THE EMPEROR

Change of director and additions to the cast.

The last we heard about the upcoming drama ‘The Emperor’s Children,’ Keira Knightley, Richard Gere and Eric Bana were to star with Noah Baumbach (‘The Squid and the Whale’) lined up to direct. Now Twitch is reporting that Baumbach is out of the running and that ‘Crazy Heart’ director Scott Cooper is set to take the director’s chair.

An adaptation of Claire Messud’s 2008 novel, the story is set in the months leading up to and following the September 11 attacks, and follows the intersections in the lives of three friends who are struggling with their life expectations.

While the Twitch report continues to mention Knightley and Gere, Bana is absent from the lineup, but it does add that Rachel McAdams and Emma Thompson have also joined the cast. Production is slated for Spring 2012.