Alex Garland’s adaptation of the science fiction horror novel ‘Annihilation’ may soon have some major star power attached as Natalie Portman (‘Thor: The Dark World’,’V for Vendetta’) is in talks to play the lead role in the film. The original novel is the first of ‘The Southern Reach’ trilogy by Jeff VanderMeer is a quick read but a great one which is on its way to get a big screen adaptation. With Garland fresh off of ‘Ex Machina‘ it seems like just the type of film he might want to handle.

I would expect that as this was a trilogy if the original film ends up being successful we can count on four films being made to properly tell the story.

Portman would be playing the central character who is also the narrator of the novel. She would be part a group of four women where her and the three others are only ever mentioned by their specialties. Portman would play the biologist with the other three characters are a psychologist, a surveyor, and an anthropologist. While these not the only characters in the film, these are the four central to the plot and we’d see them in a mysterious place known as Area X that would have the four separated from the rest of humanity. Not only are they on their own but the laws of nature don’t quite apply here and we see these four as the twelfth expedition tasked with studying Area X.

With the deep introspection that can be found in the book, it would seem that Garland is the perfect fit after his work on ‘Ex Machina’ and seems like a great fit. It looks as if Portman signing on is conditional on the film pushing back shooting until early 2016. Interestingly enough Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore’s names have popped up in contention for one of the major supporting roles.

If you’re not familiar with the novel, here’s a synopsis:

Area X has been cut off from the rest of the continent for decades. Nature has reclaimed the last vestiges of human civilization. The first expedition returned with reports of a pristine, Edenic landscape; the second expedition ended in mass suicide, the third expedition in a hail of gunfire as its members turned on one another. The members of the eleventh expedition returned as shadows of their former selves, and within weeks, all had died of cancer. In Annihilation, the first volume of Jeff VanderMeer’s Southern Reach trilogy, we join the twelfth expedition.

The group is made up of four women: an anthropologist; a surveyor; a psychologist, the de facto leader; and our narrator, a biologist. Their mission is to map the terrain, record all observations of their surroundings and of one anotioner, and, above all, avoid being contaminated by Area X itself.

They arrive expecting the unexpected, and Area X delivers–they discover a massive topographic anomaly and life forms that surpass understanding–but it’s the surprises that came across the border with them and the secrets the expedition members are keeping from one another that change everything.

What are your thoughts on ‘Annihilation’ getting closer to having a leading lady? If you’ve read the novel, do you think that Portman would be good in the role? Share your thoughts below!

Source: Slash Film