Just three years after saying she had no interest in doing a sequel to her 1994 debut filmThe Professional—known internationally as Leon—Natalie Portman has changed her tune. But her willingness to return to the role that made her a young star is dependent on one condition.
According to MTV, Portman says she'd come back for a sequel only if original director Luc Besson were behind the camera again. Besson, for his part, has actually written a sequel called Mathilda, which focuses on Portman's character, but has said he has no interest in directing.
Portman says she has not even looked at the script for that very reason: "I have never read it, because Luc won't direct it himself, and so I'm only interested if he [directs]. ... I told him if he would do it himself, I would do it in two seconds. But he won't, so ... "
Besson himself, the French filmmaker known for directing La Femme Nikita and The Fifth Element, as well as producing the Transporter series, has been in and out of retirement for the past few years, so it's not clear whether he'd want to put on his director's hat again for Mathilda. There's also no guarantee that the studio that owns the rights to the property is interested in a sequel.
If anyone could inspire both him and the studio to get Mathilda up and running, however, we imagine it would be Portman. The actress is getting rave reviews (and Oscar buzz) for her starring role in the upcoming psychological thriller Black Swan, so the time may be right for our favorite "cleaner" to make a comeback!
Posts
