The Darren Aronofsky merry go-round continues. Despite being announced in 2007 as one of many gestating projects for the “The Wrestler” helmer, most people forgot about “Black Swan,” a thriller about an older ballerina and a rival protege he had set up at Universal. With the director suddenly able to get any number of greenlights, however, it has resurfaced, the original John McLaughlin script, now re-written by Mark Heyman, becoming a hot property between interested studios. Now with Natalie Portman attached, the premise, as described by THR, is suddenly being described as supernatural, which could be the key to the reworked project generating attention. Portman would play a veteran ballerina facing pressure from a younger rival, with some uncertainty as to whether the rival is real or if she’s suffering delusions (the trade says is has shades of “The Others” with Nicole Kidman).
Variety reports that if the Portman-endorsed package is sold to a studio soon, it will be Aronofsky’s next film. The director’s only made four films, but seems to have an always-busy dance card, so with “Black Swan” moving forward, a lot of chips fall in place. Aronofsky had already departed “The Fighter,” and it looks like “Black Swan” will unseat his most likely next film, the big budget MGM remake of “Robocop.” Reportedly, MGM’s having some money issues, and after setting a 2010 release date for the “Robocop” relaunch, they’ve been forced to postpone the release a year. This hasn’t entirely been made official by the company, which means there might possibly be some massive retooling of the project considering the work Aronofsky had done on the picture in the year he’s been involved. Or maybe the lack of work, since Aronofsky always seemed to be making up shit off the top of his head when asked about it.
In addition to “Swan” and maybe still “Robocop,” Aronofsky is still dedicated to realizing his vision of a Noah’s Ark movie, but with budgetary concerns, he might have a difficult time getting that project set up, depending on how acrimonious his exit on “Robocop” has been. Still, he knows how to stretch a dollar- he was able to get financing for “The Wrestler” with an uninsurable star, he halved the budget on the expensive-looking “The Fountain,” and you can practically hear the sound of Aronofsky’s personal credit card running through the machine during “Pi.” All that thrift, and he still goes to bed next to Rachel Weisz.
If “Black Swan” is bought it could shoot before the end of the year. Frankly, we’re happy. This sounds much more interesting than a reboot-rehash, which Aronofsky shouldn’t waste his talents on.