Mike Fleming

Your Voice In My Head David Yates

UPDATE: Director David Yates has confirmed his withdrawal from the helm of Your Voice In My Head, which Deadline revealed yesterday. He has issued this statement:  “Unfortunately, due to conflicting schedules and ongoing commitments in the narrow window I was hoping to make this film, it has become no longer possible for me to direct ‘Your Voice in My Head.’ I am sincerely sorry to be leaving such a fantastic project, and I wish producer Alison Owen and everyone involved the very best for what I am sure will be a distinctive film.”‬

EARLIER, 2:07 pm, EDT: David Yates is exiting Your Voice In My Head, the Warner Bros film that had been expected to be his next movie after completing the Harry Potter series. I’m told that Yates dropped out for personal reasons involving a family health situation. Yates was going to do the film with his Potter star Emma Watson and wanted to postpone, but the writers and producers didn’t want to wait.

I wonder how crazy the studio will be about going forward without him. Beyond Chris Nolan and Ben Affleck, Warner Bros tends to bring every script it has to Yates, and that was a primary reason the studio was interested. Your Voice In My Head is the Emma Forrest-scripted drama based on the scribe’s memoir. Watson is playing a young woman who attempts suicide before being saved by a New York-based psychiatrist who’s dying of cancer. Watson and Yates worked together on the last four Harry Potter films. Yates was eyeing a big star to play the male lead, with Stanley Tucci mentioned as one of the possibles. Yates might now do A Reliable Wife at Sony when he is ready to return to work.