The phrase ?It Girl? was invented to describe Diablo Cody. The former stripper turned blogger turned author turned screenwriter?s been making plenty of headlines lately thanks to her critically acclaimed screenplay for Juno, the new indie comedy directed by Jason Reitman (Thank You for Smoking). And Cody?s talents have already caught the attention of no less than Steven Spielberg, with whom she?s producing next year?s TV comedy The United States of Tara. But Cody says her real ambition lies within the horror genre. Her next produced film script will be the horror comedy Jennifer?s Body, starring Transformers? Megan Fox (and produced by Reitman); and she doesn?t hide her ambition to direct a horror film in the not-too-distant future.
We sat down with Cody and Reitman (the son of veteran filmmaker Ivan) during their press tour for Juno, and grilled the pair on their upcoming plans to inspire laughter and fear in equal measure?

With the success of Juno, it seems like you?ve got a lot of projects in the pipeline right now. Could you talk about which of these projects you?ll be doing next?

Cody: Jason and I are working on a horror movie.

Jennifer?s Body?

Cody: Yes.

Could you talk a little about that film?

Cody: I?m really excited about it. Jason is producing it actually. I don?t think I?ve ever been this excited about anything ever. I grew up watching horror movies. I love them. Horror is my favorite genre, for sure. Comedy is a close second. And this is a horror comedy, so I?m in my element. It?s a female protagonist again, a female villain. I would say the evil of the story is a specifically feminine evil. It?s gonna be fun, it?s gonna be a fun movie. Bloody and funny, thrilling.

Reitman: What Juno does for teenage pregnancy, we hope Jennifer?s Body does for teenage cannibalism.

Cody: This is gonna be a sexy movie too. I love Juno. It?s sexy, but it?s not hot.

Jennifer?s Body looks to be a more mainstream film than Juno, seeing as how you?re doing it for Fox Atomic, with Megan Fox in a lead role.

Cody: It?s a little different. A genre picture.

Reitman: Diablo and I are both huge horror fans. You can kind of chart our favorite horror films back through time. We feel like there?s room right now for a very exciting horror film for this generation. Horror seems to have kind of wound up in two categories at this point. One is this kind of derivation of the Japanese horror films, which is very cold. And one which is a derivation of the Scream films, which is so self-aware that there?s no warmth, there?s no reality. While I?ve grown in sophistication and I really love The Shining, and I?d probably consider my favorite horror film Alien, I remember seeing Nightmare on Elm Street, and that had a profound affect on me. The way I felt the first time I cracked open the laserdisc for Nightmare on Elm Street, is unique from any other horror film I?ve ever watched. There was a warmth, there was kind of an understanding of what was going on in these teenagers? lives. There was an importance to it. The first time I read Jennifer?s Body, it had that. It had teenagers that I felt I knew and I understood, and I could imagine why a teenager today could watch Jennifer?s Body, and have that same sort of guttural excitement in response.

Diablo, do you have any particular favorites within the genre?

Cody: Yeah, I mean in terms of the suspense genre, I would say Rosemary?s Baby and The Shining. In terms of slasher, Creepshow. I love George Romero. I?m just excited in general.

Any recent horror films you?ve liked?

Cody: This is a tough one. Does Planet Terror count? I liked Planet Terror.

What?s it like to get a call from Steven Spielberg?

Cody: Crazy. Totally weird. One of the weirdest experiences of my life.

Good weird?

Cody: Good weird. In fact, I thought maybe?even after it had sunk in that he was speaking to me?I thought, ?Maybe he just wanted to call out of curiosity? or ?Maybe he liked Juno.? I didn?t think he actually wanted to work with me. Because you take a lot of general meetings in Hollywood, and if there?s one you don?t think is gonna pan out it?s gonna be the Steven Spielberg one. Like ?I?ll just take that meting with me as a nice memory.? And that was how I went into it. Then when I started pitching at him and he said, ?Alright, let?s take this to the cable channels and see if someone will buy it,? I?m like, ?Oh my God, this is happening.? Then it?s on the schedule and I really can?t believe it?s happening. Then we sell it, and I was like?
I remember when we came into the trades. It was so strange. It was, like, five in the morning. I was at the mall. We were shooting at the mall. Somebody told me it was in the trades. I was like, ?Oh. It happened.?

Jason, you?ve mentioned that you grew up on you dad?s film sets. Was one of those sets Ghostbusters?

Reitman: Of course!

On a conscious or unconscious level, do you think that factored into your urge to make a horror comedy?

Reitman: My father made real horror films before he made Animal House. So you?d think that would have an effect. I?ve always liked horror as a genre. I don?t know. I?ve always been titillated by being scared. I?m not sure if it comes from my dad?s films, although I remember the terror dog being very scary. I remember thinking that was frightening.

Do you ever think, ?If I do a horror comedy, people might compare it to my dad?s horror comedy??

Reitman: No, because Ghostbusters is a sci-fi comedy, it?s not a horror film. This is a horror film. I don?t think my father?s made anything like this since the early ?70s, a moment in his career that no one really knows about and no one will ever compare me to. I?d be much more in danger if I did a traditional broad comedy. And even still, I always thought people would compare me to my father. No one really does that, is what I?ve found so far. They just ask me, ?What?s the advantage and what?s the disadvantage?? And that?s all they?re really interested in.

Do you seek his approval?

Reitman: I look to him for advice and I want him to be proud of me. And he loves the films, and he seems to be over the moon about this movie. So it?s quite lovely.

Do either of you have a dream project?

Reitman: Dream project? Yes. I want to remake Pretty Woman shot for shot, with a real hooker in the role, and see what happens. [Laughs.]

Cody: I want to direct a horror movie.

A hardcore horror movie?

Reitman: Faces of Death.

"From Juno to Mondo?"

Cody: [Laughs.] I like that. You?ve got it already.

You mentioned in a recent interview that you felt you almost had to direct, like you had a responsibility to do so because so few women have that opportunity.

Cody: Yeah. My initial belief was that I didn?t want to direct, because I loved writing so much that it almost felt like infidelity in a weird way. I thought, ?I always want to be exclusively a writer, and I want to stay committed to that, and I don?t want to be sort of tainted by this directorial foresight or something.? I can?t explain it. I just wanted to be able to write. But then I thought about it and it became this sort of responsibility issue. Like, people were already asking me if I wanted to direct stuff. People who could help me direct something were asking. I thought, ?Well, I have a responsibility as a woman to do it, because there just aren?t enough female directors out there. And if people think I can do it then I should.? Then, stage 3 of my ?I should be a director? odyssey was, like, ?And also I would enjoy it.? And then stage 4 became ?I absolutely must,? and I lie awake at night and think about it every night.

What?s your greatest fear?

Cody: Hitting a pedestrian with my car. I swear to God?I think about it on a daily basis.

Reitman: [Laughs.] Being hit by Diablo?s car.