Darren Aronofsky heads to the ballet

Now that his long slog making The Fountain is behind him, Darren Aronofsky can at last return to the world of films that might not require a megastar to sign on before the green light flashes.

Universal Pictures has grabbed the psychological thriller Black Swan for the director, hoping that he’ll choose to make it as his next film. John McLaughlin, who has worked with Aronofsky and producer Eric Watson before on a TV pilot and adapting the novel Song Of Kali, has been picked to write the script. Swan’s story focuses on the manipulative relationship between a long-in-the-tutu dancer and a deadly rival in the shoe-shuffling biz.

Aronofsky and McLaughlin set the film up at Universal, but it’ll depend on the quality of the script before the notoriously picky helmer actually decides to sit in the big folding chair.

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