Natalie Portman Is Going Back to the Stars With ‘Pale Blue Dot’

Natalie Portman has wasted no time lining up her next project after Annihilation. 
Natalie Portman - Thor

Natalie Portman has wasted no time lining up her next project after Annihilation.

Legion showrunner Noah Hawley has a female astronaut picture set up with Fox Searchlight and they might’ve found their star. Natalie Portman is in negotiations to star in Pale Blue Dot, a spaced theme romantic triangle. Originally, Resse Witherspoon was set to star in the picture, but given her upcoming responsibilities, she is instead producing the picture.

Pale Blue Dot focuses on a married astronaut who has just returned from a mission. She had begun an affair in space with another astronaut and when she comes back to Earth she finds that her family dynamic has shifted significantly. Even more so when she realizes her new space lover, also has another love interest on the side. The Hollywood Reporter says that it is based on a true-life astronaut love triangle in which a female mission specialist tried to kidnap a rival in 2007.

Despite Fox Searchlight being on the cusp of being owned by Disney, they are continuing work as usual as well. During the Critic Choice Awards, the team behind Best Picture winner The Shape of Water made clear their enjoyment of working with Fox Searchlight and the hope that Disney leaves the studio to operate normally. The Shape of Water producer J. Miles Dale said, “Thank you so much to the critics and thank you to Fox Searchlight. [Del Toro] said it before, but they’re making the kind of movies that we need to make, we want to make, and people need to see. I don’t know if Bob Iger’s out there or not, I don’t know what’s gonna happen with this Disney thing, but I urge you not to mess this up. They’ve got a good thing going and they rock.” That remains to be seen, but the hope is still there.

Natalie Portman will be following up her work on Jackie and Annihilation with Pale Blue Dot. She will also be in the highly anticipated new film from Xavier Dolan, The Death and Life of John F. Donovan which will co-star Jessica Chastain. Pale Blue Dot reads like the perfect material for Natalie Portman and it will be interesting to hear who they cast as her lover and husband.

Max Covill: News Writer/Columnist for Film School Rejects. It’s the Pictures Co-host. Bylines Playboy, ZAM, Paste Magazine and more.