Alicia Vikander is 2015’s breakthrough actress. She’s already given one of the year’s best performances in Ex Machina and she still has (deep breath), Tulip Fever, The Light Between Oceans, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., and The Danish Girl left to go (we’ll collectively forget that Seventh Son existed if we haven’t already). I don’t know if her work in her upcoming movies will equal her Ex Machina performance (she may also be at the mercy of the writing or the size of the role), but her star has ascended rapidly, which means she’s now in demand for much bigger projects.
Vikander has become so popular that she was being courted for Bourne 5 and Assassin’s Creed. Deadline now reports that Vikander has chosen Bourne 5 since her schedule won’t allow her to do Assassin’s Creed as well. Personally, I think she made the right call. Either way, she’s not going to be the headliner on this flick, and Hollywood being what it is, I doubt she’ll even be on equal footing with her male co-star. The purpose of signing on to one of these movies is to take her career to the next level, and hopefully down the line she’ll get a blockbuster franchise to herself or, at the very least, more choices in the roles she’s offered.
Bourne is the established franchise, and with Matt Damon reprising the role and Paul Greengrass returning to direct, it’s going to be huge. Assassin’s Creed, on the other hand, is a video game movie, and it will be a real test of the brand and Michael Fassbender’s star power. I’m not saying Assassin’s Creed will be bad, but Bourne 5 is unquestionably the safer bet when it comes to adding a hit movie to her filmography.
Deadline also confirms what we reported last week, which is that Vikander is out of James Ponsoldt’s adaptation of The Circle starring Tom Hanks. That’s the cost of being this in demand, but Vikander has definitely earned it, and I’m excited to see her in future roles.
