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Don’t Write Off Diablo Cody

Stephen Zeitchik thinks the "faceplant" of Jennifer's Body just sets her up for a comeback:

But there are reasons the grave dancers may not want to strike up the band just yet. Wunderkind screenwriters tend to have beginner's luck -- and a follow-up jinx.

Stephen Gaghan won a screenplay Oscar and watched his film earn $205 million worldwide when "Traffic" (technically his second feature) was released in 2000. But his next pic, a college thriller titled "Abandon" (stay away from the genres, young prodigies) didn't exactly pick up where "Traffic" left off: it earned $11 and few awards of any kind.

Callie Khouri was still in her early thirties when her debut "Thelma & Louise" nailed six Oscar noms and a screenplay Oscar for Khouri -- before she followed it up with the horse-stable romance "Something to Talk About" (though we're not exactly sure Cody would want Khouri's career).

Christopher McQuarrie, in a more reassuring vein, was just 27 when he won an Oscar for "The Usual Suspects." He followed it up with "The Way of the Gun," a $6 million-grossing disaster of a Ryan Philippe picture -- but rebounded just fine with "Valkyrie" and a host of studio development gigs since.

--Don't send Diablo Cody to the devil's playground just yet--The Hollywood Reporter | Risky Business | Film Reviews, Movie News and Interviews

About J. Ott

John Ott is a writer, filmmaker and futurist. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Google+.