Borys Kit from The Hollywood Reporter is noting that director Darren Aronofsky (The Wrestler) and Angelina Jolie have quietly teamed up to shop a project around to the various studios.
Based on the 2009 novel by Ron Rash, Serena will tell the story of an ambitious Depression-era timber baron’s new wife whose monstrous behavior threatens the life of her husband’s illegitimate child. Christopher Kyle (K-19: The Widowmaker, Alexander) adapted the screenplay and Nick Wechsler (The Time Traveler’s Wife, The Road) is on board as producer.
Despite her recent dramas having achieved critical success, the box office numbers tell a different story. Changeling raked in only $35 million in the U.S. but its total worldwide gross is almost $113 million while A Mighty Heart only took in $18 million worldwide with about half of that being its domestic gross. Still, Kit re-relates the notion that Jolie is box office gold, calling her “one of the few female actresses who can make or break a movie.”
Personally, I think this is definitely a role that Jolie would sink her teeth right into and chew for all its worth, but I also think that Aronofsky’s the kind of director who could rein in some of her exuberance and re-direct that emotion into the acting.
Jolie will have a chance to prove her paycheck’s worth again with spy thriller Salt and its U.S. release July 23 and The Tourist, which she is currently filming with new co-star Johnny Depp.