An all-star female filmmaker dream team is coming together in the form of actress Natalie Portman, Jenna Ortega, and director Cathy Yan.
Deadline reports Portman and Ortega are in talks to star in The Gallerist, which will see Yan as co-writer and director. The film follows a desperate gallerist who conspires to sell a dead guy at Art Basel Miami. Yan co-wrote with James Pedersen.
According to the outlet, “Portman and Sophie Mas will produce through their MountainA banner,” with Jonathan King, Ash Sarohia, Tom McCarthy, Rae Baron, Sophie Mas, and Zola Elgart Glassman also producing.
Both actresses came into the project with some momentum; Portman is coming off a Golden Globe nomination for a role in the Todd Haynes film May December. She recently wrapped a production on Fountain of Youth. As for Ortega, the actress has a major box office success story with Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, which just crossed the $400 million worldwide mark. She is about to start production on Season 2 of the Netflix series Wednesday and will also star in a secret J.J. Abrams project.
Yan is best known for Dead Pigs and the DC movie Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn). She most recently directed one of the episodes in the final season of the HBO drama Succession.
Stay tuned for more details on The Gallerist.