Jennifer Jason Leigh To Join Alex Garland’s ‘Annihilation’ With Natalie Portman

Are we headed into a Jennifer Jason Leigh-aissance? Granted, the actress has never really went away, but she seems to be having a real moment. Arguably the best part of Quentin Tarantino‘s “The Hateful Eight,” while serving as the beautiful heart of Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson‘s “Anomalisa,” Leigh has been blessed of late with some terrific, complex roles to play. And it looks like she’s lining up another one.

The actress is in early talks to join Alex Garland‘s “Annihilation,” which already has Natalie Portman, Gina Rodriguez and Tessa Thompson slated to star. Based on the first book in a trilogy by Jeff VanderMeer, the futuristic sci-fi story follows four women who investigate the mysterious Area X. Here’s the book synopsis:

Area X has been cut off from the rest of the continent for decades. Nature has reclaimed the last vestiges of human civilization. The first expedition returned with reports of a pristine, Edenic landscape; the second expedition ended in mass suicide, the third expedition in a hail of gunfire as its members turned on one another. The members of the eleventh expedition returned as shadows of their former selves, and within weeks, all had died of cancer. In Annihilation, the first volume of Jeff VanderMeer’s Southern Reach trilogy, we join the twelfth expedition.

The group is made up of four women: an anthropologist; a surveyor; a psychologist, the de facto leader; and our narrator, a biologist. Their mission is to map the terrain, record all observations of their surroundings and of one another, and, above all, avoid being contaminated by Area X itself.

They arrive expecting the unexpected, and Area X delivers ― they discover a massive topographic anomaly and life forms that surpass understanding ― but it’s the surprises that came across the border with them and the secrets the expedition members are keeping from one another that change everything.

READ MORE: Review: Charlie Kaufman & Duke Johnson’s Animated ‘Anomalisa’ Voiced By David Thewlis, Jennifer Jason Leigh & Tom Noonan

No word yet on when production will begin, but likely soon given that the cast now has its quartet of leading actresses. Have you read the book? If so, let us know what you think about the casting below. [The Wrap]

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