Natalie Portman Floating In Gravity?

Natalie Portman Gravity

One of the most sought-after roles in Hollywood at the moment is the lead in Alfonso Cuaron’s Gravity. Just last week news broke that Angelina Jolie had dropped out, which was potentially troubling for the production, because Warner Brothers had asked her to star in the film twice. There are many within the studio worried that the degree in which the movie depends on the female lead means that you have to have a household name anchoring the film, and Jolie is one of the few real female stars still at her peak.

THR is now reporting that after the near unanimous praise that Darren Aronofsky’s  Black Swan received this week at the Venice and Telluride Film Festivals, and more importantly, the attention that Natalie Portman is receiving for her tortured turn as a ballerina has now made her the front-runner for the lead in Cuaron’s film. Warner Bros. has reportedly given Cuaron (Children of Men) permission to offer Portman the role.

The $80 million dollar budgeted Gravity is being described as a female Cast Away set in space. The 3D survival story centers on a woman stranded on a space station after space debris slams into it, killing the rest of the crew. Robert Downey, Jr. has already signed on to play a supporting role. For our sakes, I hope his last name isn’t Wilson.