Dakota Fanning May Star in Hardwicke’s If I Stay

Dakota Fanning may be taking the lead role in Summit Entertainment’s If I Stay for Catherine Hardwicke, the director who started the Twilight saga that now generates paychecks for Fanning.

Pajiba‘s source says the 15-year-old actress is in negotiations to star as Mia Hill, a young woman who gets into a car accident and goes through an out of body experience while in a coma.

I think if I was flying around outside my chiseled exterior, I’d go get into trouble, because who’s going to know and, if they somehow could, I have the perfect alibi.  “What do you mean I learned something I shouldn’t?  I was in a coma!”

While the studio replaced Hardwicke for the supposedly larger scale Twilight Saga: New Moon, they’re still in business with her for this film… for now.  Hardwicke is attached to a multitude of movies, including this, Maximum Ride, a possible feature film version of “21 Jump Street,” a re-imaging of Red Riding Hood, and Hamlet with Emile Hirsch.  Summit wants to put this in production as early as summer 2010, so Hardwicke will direct depending on availability.

Update: The LA Times’ Steven Zeitchik is ripping off blogs again.  He confirmed what I wrote here and what Pajiba learned.

The script is an adaptation of Gayle Forman’s adult novel written for the screen by Whip It! scribe Shauna Cross.  It gained enough favorite mentions by Hollywood players to make the 2009 Black List last week, which is a good sign that it will eventually get made with or without Hardwicke’s involvement.

Fanning has been trying to establish herself as a more grown-up performer lately, shirking her sweet image that gave her a career for a super-powered teen in Push and a super-powered vampire in New Moon (both Summit Entertainment movies).  She certainly shows potential though, so maybe in the hands of the right director she’ll show some dramatic chops.  Is Catherine Hardwicke that director?  We’ll see.