Natalie Portman is Aronofsky’s Black Swan

Published by Jeff Leins on June 16, 2009

Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan may finally be taking flight with Natalie Portman attached to play the lead.  This could very easily be the director’s next film if the deal to sign Portman and a studio comes together quickly.

Swan centers on a veteran ballerina (Portman) who finds herself locked in a competitive situation with a rival dancer, with the stakes and twists increasing as the dancers approach a big performance. But it’s unclear whether the rival is a supernatural apparition or if the protagonist is simply having delusions.

Natalie Portman is a trained dancer and was a member of a song and dance troupe as a child.  So far she hasn’t used those skills, though she played a stripper in Closer and danced a little jig in Garden State.

The supernatural thriller was originally set up at Universal in early 2007, but the company has since put the project in turnaround.  That means it’s free to be shopped around to new studios and specialty divisions, which producers are currently in the process of doing according to the Hollywood Reporter.  After The Wrestler, I’d expect something of a bidding war for the Oscar-nominated director’s next.

An MGM representative told io9 Aronofsky’s RoboCop reboot has been delayed and distributors were told to expect it sometime in 2011 instead of 2010.