Even though it may have seemed like Natalie Portman had an incredibly busy 2011, what with three movies hitting theaters during the calendar year, she actually took a lot of that time off. Of course it was to have a baby and all, so I guess she was pretty busy after all. Since announcing her return to acting, Portman has been pretty picky about the roles she'd undertake, which she can be since...well, she's friggin' Academy Award winner Natalie Portman. We know she'll feature in both of Terrence Malick's upcoming films in some way, and then there's the paycheck flick in Thor 2. And now we're learning she'll be hooking up with the recently returned Lynne Ramsay for a Western titled Jane Got A Gun.
Based on a script by Brian Dunnfield, the story has Portman playing an Old West woman whose husband gets all shot up by his former gang, and as they close in to finish the job, she's forced to reach out to an ex-lover to help fight them off. Dunnfield's script apparently made the Black List of "best" unproduced screenplays, but that doesn't really mean squat anymore. Portman will also serve as a producer. Apparently there's a big bidding war going on for the film right now at Cannes, so expect some major dollars to get dropped on it in the next few days.
It's good to see that Ramsay isn't wasting anytime jumping into another film, after making us wait so long for We Need to Talk About Kevin. Before that it had been nearly a decade since she made the impressive Morvern Callar. I also like the idea of a female led Western film, but hope it has considerably more energy than Meek's Cutoff did last year. Talk about a snoozer. [THR]
