Natalie Portman

After suffering delays, director changes, casting changes, more delays and a studio bankruptcy, Jane Got a Gun is finally coming to theaters. Natalie Portman stars in the new western as a desperate woman who seeks the aid of an old boyfriend to help defend her homestead from the men who previously held her captive. The latest trailer for the film doesn’t do it much favors, between the generic heavy rock music and the generic DTV action flick font — but the actual footage still looks enticing, at the very least.

After a writing a string of successful genre screenplays for other directors, Alex Garland broke out on his own year, making his directorial debut with the exquisite sci-fi Ex Machina. His next directing project is Annihilation, with Garland reportedly eyeing another of this year’s major breakout talents to join Natalie Portman in the new sci-fi film: Jane the Virgin’s Gina Rodriguez.

It’s hard to think of a recent production with worse luck than Jane Got a Gun.

Like several actors before her, Natalie Portman’s ambitions extend beyond merely working in front of the camera. Following in the footsteps of peers like Angelina Jolie, George Clooney and more recently, fellow Marvel star Chris Evans, Portman makes her directorial debut with A Tale of Love and Darkness, in which she also plays a leading role. The first trailer has arrived, teasing a gorgeous, poignant film set in Portman’s native Israel.

Jane Got a Gun has had a very, very troubled production — from the departure of director Lynn Ramsay to cast changes and release delays, the film started to feel like one long, unfortunate practical joke, and it was unclear if we’d actually ever see this film hit theaters. With the recent collapse of Relativity Media, the uncertainty only grew, but The Weinstein Co. has swept in to save Natalie Portman’s western and given it a 2016 release date…for now.

Dang, Natalie Portman, slow down. This week, Portman has lined up roles in a Ruth Bader Ginsburg biopic and a new French horror film, and she’s not slowing down. The actress has added another biopic role to her quickly growing to-do list: playing the part of America’s favorite former First Lady, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. And when you think about it, that role is kind of perfect for Portman.

That Natalie Portman sure is keeping busy with one badass schedule. In addition to the recent news that Portman will portray a young Ruth Bader Ginsburg (aka the Notorious R.B.G.) in On the Basis of Sex, the actress has also lined up another project: a French period ghost story titled Planetarium, in which she’ll co-star with Lily-Rose Depp, the daughter of — oh, like we need to tell you.

Fact: Natalie Portman is a badass. Fact: Ruth Bader Ginsburg, aka the Notorious R.B.G. is also a badass. And now the former will play the latter in a new film about the aspirational and inspirational supreme court justice, combining two of our favorite women in one presumably amazing film about one seriously amazing woman.

Not to spoil my Best Movies of 2014 So Far list whenever I get around to publishing it next month, but Alex Garland’s Ex Machina will definitely be on there. Probably pretty high, too. Garland’s directorial debut after a long career writing novels like The Beach and movies like 28 Days Later..., Sunshine, and Dredd is an outstanding sci-fi thriller about an unsettling love triangle between a robot, her inventor, and his employee. It’s so damn good, it rocketed Garland up my personal list of favorite filmmakers, to the point where I’ll pretty much see whatever he does next no matter what it is.

It’s been quite a bumpy road through the production of ‘Jane Got a Gun,’ the upcoming and consistently-delayed new Western starring Natalie Portman and Joel Edgerton. First, the film lost a director, endured lawsuits, exchanged Michael Fassbender for Ewan McGregor, and pushed its release date back a few times. But today brings our first look at Portman and Edgerton in the film, which is probably a good sign.