Jennifer Lawrence To Star In New Darren Aronofsky Film — Plot And Release Details Revealed

The highly-revered director, Darren Aronofsky, is ready to work on his next major film. This will be his first project since 2014’s Noah, which critics and audiences were not entirely impressed with. While there isn’t much known about what Darren Aronofsky has in store, Jennifer Lawrence has been discussed to star in the lead role.

According to Variety, the Aronofsky film is slated for release via Paramount Pictures and will likely feature Javier Bardem alongside Jennifer Lawrence. Representatives for both Paramount Pictures and Darren Aronofsky refused to comment on the casting choices, but a close source seems confident in the information.

Darren Aronofsky is planning to start shooting with Lawrence and Bardem in the spring through his production company, Protozoa Pictures. He will be writing, directing, and producing the film himself, with some help from Scott Franklin and Ari Handel.

Variety also shared a brief synopsis of the plot.

“The film centers on a couple whose relationship is tested when uninvited guests arrive at their home, disrupting their tranquil existence.”

IndieWire suggests the plot has striking similarities to the Michael Haneke film Funny Games, which is a deeply disturbing psychological horror wherein two men invade a couple’s home and torture them with sadistic games. While previous Darren Aronofsky films, like Pi, have gained a cult following due to their disturbing nature, the director has not yet gone to depths as dark as Funny Games.

New Regency Productions reportedly declined to distribute the new Darren Aronofsky project, but Paramount was happy to take it on. It is currently slated for release sometime in 2017.

A previous report from the Inquisitr suggested that Darren Aronofsky would be shooting a biopic based on the life of Evel Knievel that would star Channing Tatum, but it seems the director has completely shifted away from the family film idea to a darker concept, more in-line with his previous work.

While many details about the film are set, Darren Aronofsky has seemingly abstained from titling the movie so far.

Jennifer Lawrence was the director’s top choice since the project’s first incarnation. She was reportedly eager to join the cast shortly after meeting with Darren and learning what the movie was about. Javier Bardem was apparently also a top pick for Aronofsky, but several other actors were also gunning for the part. Once the director was sure Jennifer Lawrence was on board, he gave the part to Javier Bardem.

Lawrence and Aronofsky are represented by the same agency, CAA, but Bardem is repped by WME.

The announcement of her collaboration with Darren Aronofsky has come only a day after Jennifer Lawrence won her third Golden Globe for her role in the David O. Russell film, Joy. Though Aronofsky was nominated for both an Oscar and a Golden Globe for his film Black Swan starring Natalie Portman, he did not win either of them. It seems Darren Aronofsky has not had a major success since the 2010 horror, or arguably since his critically acclaimed 2008 film, The Wrestler.

In fact, not only did his film Noah fail to impress critics, it was banned in three countries, according to a previous report from the Inquisitr, due to controversial subject matter that contradicts many people’s religious beliefs. Read more about the controversy here.

Are you interested in the new Darren Aronofsky film? Do you think Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem will make a good team with the well-respected filmmaker?

Look for the movie in theaters sometime next year.

[Photos by Jamie McCarthy and Alison Buck/Getty Images]