AceShowbiz -

It seems like Columbia pictures will need higher efforts to get "The Rosie Project" moving forward. After star Jennifer Lawrence departed earlier this week, The Hollywood Reporter has leaned that the movie also loses director Richard Linklater.

Having involved in multiple big projects like "X-Men: Apocalypse" and "Passengers (2016)", Lawrence seemingly needs a break, so she passed on "The Rosie Project". Since Larter's initial plan was to collaborate with the Oscar-winning actress, so when she left the project, the director did the same thing. The studio hopes to find replacements immediately, as the aformentioned project is a top priority for them.

Phil Lord and Christopher Miller were intially eyed as directors before they passed on the project for other movies such as the untitled stand-alone Star Wars film II. The duo is currently set to produce The Lego Movie sequel and "Ninjago".

"The Rosie Project" is scheduled to shoot later this year. It is unclear whether filming will be rescheduled, considering that the movie has no director and a leading actress on board. Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber write the screenplay of the movie which is based on Graeme Simsion's novel of the same name.

The upcoming movie follows a socially-inept genetics professor who conducts a very detailed survey in order to find the perfect wife. His plan turns to different direction when he encounters Rosie, a free-spirited woman who possesses all the opposite qualities he should be looking for. Matt Tolmach and Michael Costigan will produce the movie which is expected to arrive in the U.S. in 2017.