We’re not sure how this is being reported as an “exclusive” as it still seems more or less like a rumor (or some common sense speculation), but Latino Review reports that the producers behind Alfonso Cuarón’s sci-fi thriller “Gravity” are “interest[ed] in meeting [Rachel] Weisz for the role very soon.”
As was reported yesterday, Angelina Jolie has turned down the lead role twice and Warner Bros. has been looking at pretty much every actress for the part — testing or talking to Sandra Bullock, Natalie Portman, Naomi Watts, Marion Cotillard, Carey Mulligan, Sienna Miller, Abbie Cornish, Rebecca Hall, Olivia Wilde, Scarlett Johansson and Blake Lively — trying to find the right person who can carry an $80 million sci-fi flick. So are the producers behind “Gravity” interested in meeting with Rachel Weisz? Yeah, it would make sense but it’s also likely she’s just one name on list of actresses who are all going to be getting phone calls; the net — as the names above already suggest — is being cast very wide. Ideally they are looking for someone who can not only play the role, but get at least into the same ballpark of international appeal as Jolie (because, let’s face it, no other actress carries her kind of clout).
As it stands the project is budgeted at $80 million and is slated for an early 2011 shoot once Robert Downey Jr., who will star in the film in a supporting role, wraps work on “Sherlock Holmes 2.” However, expect that budget figure to shrink slightly depending on who eventually gets the role because, as we much as we love her, someone like Rebecca Hall isn’t getting an $80 million film greenlit.