Fox 2000 has hired Michael Sucsy (The Vow) to direct the feature adaptation of Dare Me, described in movie terms as “Heathers meets Fight Club.”  According to Deadline, the studio is courting Natalie Portman to star.  Based on the book synopsis, I assume Portman would play the new cheer squad coach: “Cool and commanding, an emissary from the adult world just beyond their reach, Coach Colette French draws Addy and the other cheerleaders into her life.”  A suicide draws a police investigation, and Addy begins to uncover dangerous secrets.  If Portman signs on, Dare Me becomes a project to keep an eye on that should offer a handful of nice roles for young up-and-comers.

Portman has nearly finished filming Jane Got a Gun, a troubled Western project that she produced and headlined.  Portman will next be seen in Thor: The Dark World, opening November 8.  Hit the jump for the Dare Me book synopsis.

We’ve seen plenty of set photos from Terrence Malick‘s Knight of Cups, but now an official image has been released.  The image is a nice shot of a scene we previously saw in set photos with Christian Bale and Natalie Portman frolicking on a beach.  If you focus, you can almost see the lyrical cinematography and whispered narration.  There are few details on Knight of Cups other than it’s about the Los Angeles movie business and features half of Hollywood.  In addition to Bale and Portman, the cast includes Cate Blanchett, Isabel Lucas, Antonio Banderas, Wes Bentley, Imogen Poots, Freida Pinto, Teresa Palmer, Ryan O’Neal, Jason Clarke, Joel Kinnaman, and Shea Whigham (hat tip to The Playlist for keeping count).  However, these are actors who have only been seen in set photos; we don’t know who will make the final cut.

We also don’t know when Malick will have that final cut.  He’s editing multiple movies, and he has no problem spending years in the editing room.  As The Playlist reminds us, it took 18 months between the first photo of To the Wonder to the film’s release.  Footage from Knight of Cups is currently being shown to possible distributors at Cannes this week.  Hit the jump to check out the image.

Yesterday, we reported the exciting news that Michael Fassbender was set to lead a new screen adaptation of William Shakespeare‘s Macbeth.  We also reported that talks were “underway with at least one Hollywood leading actress,” to play the role of Lady Macbeth.  Today, Screen Daily is reporting that the actress is Natalie Portman, and she has agreed to take the part.  Directed by Justin Kurzel (The Snowtown Murders) and written by Todd Louiso and Jacob Koskoff, the adaptation will take place in the 11th century, and will “be a visceral approach to the story including significant battle scenes.”  This will be the second collaboration between Fassbender and Portman.  The two co-starred in Terrence Malick‘s upcoming film about the Austin music scene.  They were set to reunite on Jane Got a Gun, but Fassbender dropped out shortly before filming began.  Although Portman is a producer on that film, it looks like there’s no bad blood between the two.

But as we mentioned yesterday, don’t expect Macbeth to hit the fast track just yet.  It still needs to be shopped out to buyers, and just as Fassbender and Kurzel have busy schedules, Portman is circling the biopic Jackie, the gun-running thriller Code Name Sasha, and the drama Last Witness.  She’ll next be seen in Thor: The Dark World.

And Phase Two is off and running.  With the release of Iron Man 3 just over a week away, Disney and Marvel unveiled the first teaser trailer for this fall’s sequel Thor: The Dark World this morning.  While Marvel dipped its toe into the fantastical realm with the first Thor, it’s clear from this debut trailer that director Alan Taylor’s (Game of Thrones) follow-up is very heavy on the fantasy.  We’ve gone through the new trailer and screengrabbed a batch of images, giving us a better look at the world of Thor 2 and its characters.  Christopher Eccleston’s villain Malekith looks especially sinister, and I can’t get enough of Tom Hiddleston’s Loki reveal.

Hit the jump to check out the images, and if you somehow missed the trailer click here.  The film also stars Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Jaimie Alexander, Stellan Skarsgård, Idris Elba, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Kat Dennings, Ray Stevenson, Zachary Levi, Tadanobu Asano, Jaimie Alexander, Rene Russo, and Anthony Hopkins.  Thor: The Dark World opens in 3D on November 8th.

Marvel has released the first trailer for director Alan Taylor’s (Game of Thrones) sequel Thor: The Dark World and it looks great.  Like every well cut trailer, it showcases a ton of impressive looking action, while revealing new details about the story.  I especially liked the reveal of how Loki (Tom Hiddleston) will be involved in the sequel.   If you dug the first Thor, you’re going to love this trailer.  Hit the jump to watch and let me know what you think in the comments.  

Thor: The Dark World stars Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Christopher Eccleston,Stellan Skarsgård, Idris Elba, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Kat Dennings, Ray Stevenson, Zachary Levi, Tadanobu Asano, Jaimie Alexander, Rene Russo, and Anthony Hopkins.  Thor: The Dark World opens in 3D on November 8th.

Disney has released a couple of new images from director Alan Taylor’s (Game of Thrones) Marvel sequel Thor: The Dark World.  We’ll get our first look at footage from the film tomorrow when the debut trailer is released, but for now these images do a nice job of teasing the God of Thunder’s return as well as Natalie Portman’s role in the follow-up.  It’s clear that Portman’s Jane joins Thor in Asgard in the film, and I’m interested to see how the character adjusts to life in the realm.

Hit the jump to check out the images and for some rather revealing quotes about what to expect from Thor 2 storywise, and check back here tomorrow to catch the first trailer.  The film also stars Tom Hiddleston, Christopher Eccleston, Stellan Skarsgård, Idris Elba, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Kat Dennings, Ray Stevenson, Zachary Levi, Tadanobu Asano, Jaimie Alexander, Rene Russo, and Anthony Hopkins.  Thor: The Dark World opens in 3D on November 8th.

A rather unfortunate situation has arisen on the promising drama Jane Got a Gun.  The Western drama has a Black List script by Brian Duffield and an outstanding cast that includes Natalie Portman, Joel Edgerton, and Jude Law, and production was set to begin yesterday with We Need to Talk About Kevin director Lynne Ramsay at the helm.  However, it appears that Ramsay has decided to announce her dropping out of the project by simply not showing up to set on what was to be the first day of filming.  Hit the jump for more on this supremely disappointing news.

Steve walked the floor at the American Film Market (AFM) early this morning and managed to bring back some detailed synopses for the following films:

• Jane Got a Gun – A Western starring Natalie Portman and Michael Fassbender
• Parkland – A drama about the JFK assassination starring Billy Bob Thornton, Paul Giamatti, and Jacki Weaver.
• The Green Inferno – The next directorial project from Eli Roth.
• A Walk Among the Tombstones – A crime thriller starring Liam Neeson.
• Agent: Century 21 – An action comedy starring Cameron Diaz and Benicio Del Toro.

Hit the jump to check out all the detailed synopses, which include production start dates.

Though Phase One of Marvel Studios’ film slate came to an end just a few months ago with The Avengers, production on Phase Two is already well underway.  The studio is currently in the midst of filming two upcoming sequels at the same time: Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World.  The Iron Man production is winding down to a close ahead of that film’s May 2013 release date, but filming on Thor: The Dark World is still going strong in London and today the first official synopsis for the Asgardian pic has been revealed.

The logline essentially tells us what we already know: Thor (Chris Hemsworth) must fight against Maleketih (Christopher Eccleston) and his race of Dark Elves, Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) is back, the fate of the universe is in the balance, etc.  However, the synopsis does tease the film’s epic scope and the fact that Thor is forced to “sacrifice everything” in order to save us all (Thor dies?!).  Hit the jump to check out the full synopsis, which includes the full cast list.  Directed by Alan Taylor, Thor: The Dark World opens on November 8th, 2013.

New set photos have come out from director Terrence Malick’s Untitled Film that feature more looks at star Natalie Portman and famed professional freak, Erik “The Lizardman” Sprague.  Not sure what Lizardman is doing there, but Portman is starring in a film ”set against the music scene of Austin, and tells the story of two intersecting love triangles and the obsession and betrayal that follows.”  And, as is the case in Malick’s films, any or all of these characters and scenes might be cut from the finished film at the drop of a cowboy hat.  As an added bonus, we have a set photo from director Tom Hooper’s musical feature, Les Miserables, that shows how a modern British landmark was turned into 19th century French setpiece.  Hit the jump to check them out.

Natalie Portman took a much-deserved break after winning the Best Actress Oscar for Black Swan and giving birth to her child, but now that she’s wading back into the feature film waters she’s being courted for just about everything.  We recently reported that Portman was being eyed to play Jackie Kennedy in the real-life drama Jackie, and now The Wrap reports that Portman is also mulling over two other projects: the gun-running thriller Code Name Sasha and the drama Last Witness.

Hit the jump for more on both projects and to check out the latest images of Portman on the set of Terrence Malick’s new untitled film set within the Austin music scene.

The long-in-the-works drama about Jackie Kennedy is heating back up again.  The project, titled Jackie, was previously set to be directed by Darren Aronofsky with his then-wife Rachel Weisz poised to star as the First Lady, but both dropped out following their divorce.  Now Deadline reports that Fox Searchlight is courting Natalie Portman to take on the role.  The story, written by Noah Oppenheim,  takes place in the immediate aftermath of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, so the role is quite a tall order for any actress to tackle.

Portman is said to be keen on the script, but her participation depends on the director.  Aronofsky directed Portman to a Best Actress Oscar with Black Swan so it’s feasible that he could possibly come back to the project.  A few years ago it attracted the interest of Steven Spielberg, so it’s safe to assume that a talented filmmaker will sign on sooner or later.  Portman is next set to star opposite Michael Fassbender in the incredibly promising western Jane Got a Gun, from We Need to Talk About Kevin director Lynne Ramsay.

Michael Hazanavicius, Oscar’s reigning Best Director for The Artist, is in talks to direct an adaptation of the nonfiction book In the Garden of Beasts.  Tom Hanks is set to star as William Dodd, a professor who becomes America’s ambassador to the Hitler-run Germany just prior to World War II.  Hanks is also producing with Gary Goetzman through their Playtone banner, and Deadline hears they are courting Natalie Portman to play William’s daughter.  Hazanavicius is reportedly working on a new draft of the script with an unnamed writer that will soon be hired.  With this level of talent attached and the awards-friendly subject matter, it should not surprise you to hear that the project is a priority for Universal Pictures co-chairman Donna Langley.

Hit the jump for more on the story by way of the synopsis for Erik Larson‘s book.

Michael Fassbender is a very busy man, and he looks to be showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon.  This summer he’s been filming a supporting role in Steve McQueen’s period pic Twelve Years a Slave and the lead in Ridley Scott’s star-studded drama The Counselor, he recently signed on to star in and co-produce a film iteration of Assassin’s Creed, and he’s developing a pic based on Celtic warrior Cuchulainn.  Now it appears the Shame actor is looking to add Western to his varied resume, as reports have Fassbender looking at starring opposite Natalie Portman in the incredibly promising Western Jane Got a Gun.  Hit the jump for more.

The villainous role in Thor: The Dark World may finally have been filled by Christopher Eccleston (G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra).  We’ll keep the identity of that particular villain until after the jump for those of you who like to avoid such information.  Suffice it to say, we were right when we recently reported who we thought the villain might be.  And let’s not forget, the Marvel sequel will still include Loki (Tom Hiddleston), it’s just that this time around he’ll have a little more bad to balance out the good.  Hit the jump for more details.