Tate Taylor has replaced Matthew Newton as the director of Jessica Chastain-starrer Eve, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Taylor had previously directed Chastain in The Help (2011), for which she was nominated for an Academy Award.
Newton, who has been accused of domestic violence and assault, dropped out of the film in early August after growing backlash over his involvement in the project. A Care2 petition had urged Chastain, a prominent advocate of the Time’s Up initiative against sexual harassment and abuse, to replace Newton.
The Australian filmmaker had plead guilty in 2007 to physically assaulting actress Brooke Satchwell, his former girlfriend. The director was also accused of domestic violence by his former fiancee, Rachael Taylor, in 2010.
In a statement on August 10 announcing his exit from Eve, Newton said, “Since the announcement of this film, the responses, which are powerful and important, have not fallen on deaf ears. I am profoundly aware that I have a responsibility to lead where I have failed in the past.”
Eve, which features Chastain as an assassin, has been produced by Voltage Pictures and Chastain’s all-female production banner Freckle Films. The rest of the cast is yet to be announced.
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