Natalie Portman has been relatively quiet since winning the Oscar, most notably turning down the lead in Gravity, but it seems she’s back in the game now. Deadline has the details:
Natalie Portman has committed to her first two movie roles since winning the Best Actress Oscar for Black Swan and taking maternity leave. Portman is joining the casts of the Terrence Malick films Knight Of The Cups, and Lawless. Portman will join Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett and Isabel Lucas in Knight of the Cups, which shoots this summer. She will follow by starring with Ryan Gosling, Bale, Blanchett, Rooney Mara and Haley Bennett in Lawless, the film Malick shoots in the fall. It will be Portman’s first time working with Malick, whose The Tree of Life won the Palme d’Or at Cannes and is nominated for Best Picture and Best Director Oscars.
The addition of Portman certainly will create some buzz for both Malick films when the wheeling and dealing begins at EFM in Berlin tomorrow. FilmNation is selling international territories and CAA reps both films for domestic rights. The market hasn’t even started and Deadline has broken stories that Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg lead the package for the Emmett/Furla Films and Universal co-financed 2 Guns; that Joseph Gordon-Levitt will make his directing debut on a comedy he’ll star in with Scarlett Johansson for IM Global; and that The Devil Inside followup WER will be sold by Sierra/Affinity, with FilmDistrict now an equity player in the film with Incentive Filmed Entertainment. All those films will have action in Berlin and it is looking like there will be a lot of good product. My colleague Nancy Tartaglione will be on the ground in Berlin and Deadline will be all over the market. Portman is repped by CAA and Brillstein Entertainment Partners.
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Tags: casting, Cate Blanchett, Christian Bale, Lawless, Natalie Portman, news, Rooney Mara, Ryan Gosling, Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life, upcoming projects
18 Comments
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Certainly two very strong casts…
Joey Magidson(Quote) (Reply)
Natalie Portman has been my favorite actress since 1999. So thrilled to hear this news. Hopefully no more crappy films like ‘Your Highness’.
Joseph Braverman(Quote) (Reply)
I didn’t even mind that one too much and find it an interesting note in David Gordon Green’s career…
Joey Magidson(Quote) (Reply)
Dat cast.
Lawless sounds more interesting to me. First, it has the more interesting name, which is a pretty lame way to judge a movie but there’s little else to go on, and second it has basically all the big names of Knight of Cups PLUS Gosling and Mara.
Two curiosities though: first, yeah, he’s basically using the cast core in two movies right in a row. Is this an intentional choice (perhaps the two films are related?) or does he just like these actors? Second, Terrence Malick is working TWO movies? Only a year after he released his last? What? This is the guy who’s make five films since 1973. What’s going on here?
UBourgeois(Quote) (Reply)
We shall see…
Joey Magidson(Quote) (Reply)
maybe he realized it’s time to work. even kubrick regretted not making more films. maybe malick has seen the light and finally understands we would like to see more than two a decade. i’m all for it. interested to see if these will have more of a narrative to them or if it’s going to be further down the ToL road.
sc62788(Quote) (Reply)
Could be.
Joey Magidson(Quote) (Reply)
Has there been any plot details released for these two films? The cast sounds great, so it’d be interesting to find out what the movies are going to be about.
Kevin(Quote) (Reply)
Very little, if any…
Joey Magidson(Quote) (Reply)
Love Malick. He gets the best casts for his films, hopefully these next slew of movies will be as good as his first five!
George(Quote) (Reply)
Time will certainly tell there.
Joey Magidson(Quote) (Reply)
I’m with Kevin (fellow commenter), the cast does sound great so I’m curious about the plot
Jessie Makowski(Quote) (Reply)
* Casts and plots. Multiple. And I’m glad there are multiple movies starring Natalie Portman because I’ve loved her in most everything she has been in.
Jessie Makowski(Quote) (Reply)
Gotcha.
Joey Magidson(Quote) (Reply)
It’s great to see my favourite director constantly working now, i’ll have to enjoy it while it lasts. I unlike most others have trepidations about the casting of Natalie Portman. As good as she is, it’s hard to see her reaching the heights Jessican Chastain or Q’orianka Kilcher did. They both were so expressive conveying so much through body language it was alittle astonishing. Anyway my money is on Cate Blanchett knocking it out of the park. Can’t wait for all three films to be released.
Massimo(Quote) (Reply)
I’m glad for his fans that he’s working more now it seems, that’s for sure.
Joey Magidson(Quote) (Reply)
The casts in these films are simply brilliant, and Terrence Malick never really fails. Yes, ‘The Tree of Life’ may be a polarizing film, but you have appreciate the risks (and guts) required to make such a film. Good to see him making more films. And, I look forward to seeing all the actors simply being brilliant in their roles. The fact that Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, AND Natalie Portman (plus Ryan Gosling and Rooney Mara in the 2nd film) are all working together on these films is reason enough for me to watch these films. Looking forward to these films with great anticipation…and I love the titles of these films too!!
Divya(Quote) (Reply)
The casts are excellent, that’s clear.
Joey Magidson(Quote) (Reply)