Natalie Portman, very much in demand since getting rave reviews for her performance in Darren Aronofsky's
Black Swan, has been rumored for a whole load of upcoming pictures recently, including
Superman. So I'm not sure I totally buy this latest one. Although the source is solid. Anyway, Portman recently turned down a role in
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and the lead in
Gravity for Alfonson Cuaron, so she seems to be clearing her schedule for something.
According to Vulture..
A parade of actresses have met with Scott (who's being represented in these negotiations by his longtime WME agent George Freeman) to discuss the lead role — that of a female Colonial Marine general — but only two have engendered substantial enthusiasm from both Fox brass and Ridley Scott Associates, the director’s Fox-based production company: Vulture can report exclusively that at the top of the list is Natalie Portman.
I'm not sure I'm seeing Portman as a Marine General, no matter how talented she is! But there you go. More info from Vulture suggests that Fox are delighted with Damon Lindelof's final version of the script and are eager to get moving. Less encouraging is word from an insider that they may want to bring the movie in at a PG13.
"The thinking is that if the original Alien were released today, minus the F-bombs, you could still get a PG-13. Alien is a very Jaws-ian movie: There’s no sex, and while there’s lots of violence, most of it is off-camera. Maybe you’d have to cut away from certain scenes two seconds earlier, but it could be done."
Yes maybe it could be, doesn't mean it should be. What is your defining moment from the first Alien movie? I'll bet dollars to donuts its the chest burst right? I look forward to Fox's family friendly, "cut away" version of that.
About The Author:
Mark Cassidy is a writer, photographer, amateur filmmaker, and Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic from Dublin, Ireland.