Marvel Studios’ long-gestating solo movie ‘Black Widow’ has Florence Pugh in talks for the second female lead. Should she join, she would play a spy on the same level as Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson), likely her moral opposite.
Pugh had the lead role in Stephen Merchant’s ‘Fighting with My Family,’ which has gotten critical acclaim all around. Last year, she was in Jaume Collet-Serra’s ‘The Commuter,’ David Mackenzie’s ‘Outlaw King,’ and the AMC/BBC miniseries ‘The Little Drummer Girl.’ This year, she is in two sophomore outings from up and coming directors: Ari Aster’s ‘Midsommar,’ releasing August 9th, and Greta Gerwig’s ‘Little Women,’ releasing December 25th.
The other frontrunners for the role were Emma Watson (‘Harry’ franchise, ‘Beauty and the Beast’ remake), Alice Englert (‘Beautiful Creatures,’ ‘Top of the Lake’) and Dar Zuzovsky (‘Hostages,’ ‘Neighborhood’). Watson passed on the role.
Further, a list of actors the studio has interest in for two other roles:
- Villain role: (Black British or African actor, age 30-45, “tough, dangerous and mysterious”)
- André Holland (‘Moonlight,’ ‘High Flying Bird’)
- Older female role:
- Rachel Weisz (‘Oz the Great and Powerful,’ ‘The Favourite’)
- Older male role:
- Sebastian Koch (‘Bridge of Spies,’ ‘Homeland’)
- Alec Baldwin (‘BlacKkKlansman,’ ‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’)
- Supporting female role: (age 15-25)
- Camila Mendes (‘The New Romantic,’ ‘Riverdale’)
- Isabela Moner (‘Sicario: Day of the Soldado,’ ‘Dora the Explorer’)
- Storm Reid (‘A Wrinkle in Time,’ ‘When They See Us’)
- Hannah Quinlivan (‘Moon River,’ ‘Skyscraper’)
The casting process for the two older roles will start after the villain role is cast.
Meanwhile, Cate Shortland (‘Lore,’ ‘Berlin Syndrome’) will direct. The first draft of the screenplay is from Jac Schaeffer (‘Captain Marvel,’ ‘Vision and Scarlet Witch’). Schaeffer wrote the upcoming ‘The Hustle,’ a remake of ‘Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,’ starring Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson. Ned Benson (‘The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby’ trilogy) recently did rewrites on the script.
Moreover, ‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’ cinematographer Rob Hardy is part of the crew. Seven-time ‘Harry Potter’ costume designer Jany Temime and ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ art director Jim Barr are also onboard.
We’ve known for some time filming will begin this June in the United Kingdom. However, now it seems we have exact dates, according to Mario-F. Robles of Revenge of the Fans. Filming will potentially start on June 1st and wrap on October 31st.
Pre-production is currently underway in London. Other shooting locations could include Croatia and Miami, Florida.
Marvel Studios has yet to officially announce the release date. However, there is an assumption it will take the May 1st, 2020 spot previously slated by Disney.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter