EXCLUSIVE: In what is lining up to be one of hotter packages at this year’s Cannes market, we can reveal that Oscar winner Natalie Portman is set to star in Photograph 51 for The King’s Speech director Tom Hooper.
Oscar winner Hooper is directing the pic which is inspired by the true story of Rosalind Franklin, the groundbreaking British scientist who first unveiled the hidden structure of DNA but whose legacy has been overshadowed. Anna Ziegler is adapting the script, which is based on her play of the same title.
Photograph 51 will uncover the story behind the brilliant scientist whose pioneering work in x-ray crystallography captured the image that revealed DNA’s double-helix structure, the molecule that carries the genetic instructions for all known life. The movie poses the question how could Watson and Crick, scientists working on the same conundrum in a competing lab, have been awarded the Nobel Prize for the discovery without even a mention of her name? Franklin has come to be known variously as as the “wronged heroine”, the “dark lady of DNA”, the “forgotten heroine”, a “feminist icon”, and the “Sylvia Plath of molecular biology”. Franklin’s pivotal role has remained largely in the shadows but Photograph 51 aims to reveal her quest to uncover the secret codes of all human life as she navigates both her colleagues and rivals before her untimely death at the age of only 37.
Ben Cosgrove of Leviathan Productions and Mandy Greenfield of Red Yes Studio, who together developed the project, will produce alongside Hooper and Arrival and Conclave outfit FilmNation Entertainment. FilmNation will launch international sales at the upcoming Cannes market and will co-rep domestic rights with CAA Media Finance. FilmNation will finance.
“I’m drawn to unexpected stories about people who are invisible when they should be visible,” said Hooper. “People history conspired to forget yet who touched world events – Lionel Logue in The King’s Speech, Lili Elbe in The Danish Girl. Shining a light on the extraordinary Rosalind Franklin, who made the invisible visible with DNA, and then was rendered invisible by her male colleagues and competitors, is a compelling story of science, rivalry, betrayal and redemption I am passionate to tell. Especially when it is told through the powerful writing of Anna Ziegler. Natalie Portman will bring her fierce intelligence, intensity, brilliance and wit to illuminate Rosalind. I am looking forward very much to collaborating with Natalie. And I’m happy to be united with Leviathan Productions and Red Yes Studio and to be reunited with my friends at FilmNation.”
“We’re incredibly excited to be reuniting with Tom Hooper, whose ability to bring emotionally rich, historically significant stories to life is unmatched,” said Glen Basner, CEO of FilmNation Entertainment. “Pairing Tom’s vision with Natalie Portman’s remarkable talent will make this a theatrical event for audiences across the world, offering both entertainment and profound meaning.”
The film marks a reunion for Hooper and FilmNation, who worked together on Oscar-winning hit The King’s Speech, which won multipls Oscars, including Best Director for Hooper and Best Picture.
Portman was most recently seen in the Apple TV+ series Lady In The Lake and can be seen next in the Apple Original Film Fountain of Youth.
Portman is repped by CAA, and George Sheanshang. Hooper is repped by CAA and Independent Talent Group. Ziegler is repped by CAA and Untitled.
