Natalie Portman Replaces Reese Witherspoon In ‘Pale Blue Dot’
By Ben Pearson/Jan. 11, 2018 5:00 pm EST
Noah Hawley has been looking to make the leap to the big screen for a while now. He has Buried Bodies (based on the real life Lake Pleasant Bodies case), a Doctor Doom solo movie, and an adaptation of his own novel Before the Fall lined up as potential directing gigs, but Pale Blue Dot is currently slated to be his feature directorial debut.
Reese Witherspoon was initially signed on to star as a successful female astronaut who slowly starts to lose touch with reality once she finishes her mission and tries to adapt to her regular life on Earth. But now Variety reports that Portman is in talks to replace her in the lead role – though Witherspoon (who left to film season 2 of Big Little Lies) will still remain on board as a producer. No male lead has been cast yet, but that role (along with the rest of the cast) is expected to be filled soon. Hawley has an idea for the fourth season of FX’s Fargo, but recently revealed that the show won’t return to the network until 2019. And since he’s already finished with season 2 of Legion, that means Pale Blue Dot conceivably has most of this year to shoot before he needs to start work on the new Fargo season.
