From Anne Parillaud in La Femme Nikita to Natalie Portman in Leon to Milla Jovovich in The Fifth Element, director Luc Besson has made a career out of heading his action films with strong female characters, and today it appears that he may have found his next kick-ass heroine.
The Hollywood Reporter has learned that Scarlett Johansson, who was seen beating down alien scum in last year's The Avengers, is now in final negotiations to star in Lucy, the Besson's latest directorial effort based on a script he wrote himself. Should she sign on, Johannson would play a woman who is forced into being a drug mule, but finds strange side effects occur when the contraband accidentally gets into her system. Not only does she become what the trade describes as "an ass-kicking machine," she also gains telekinetic abilities, can absorb knowledge instantly and has the ability to completely block out all pain.
Besson recently wrapped production on the crime thriller Malavita, in which Robert De Niro plays a crime boss who is relocated to Normandy, France as part of the witness protection program, and finds himself having a hard time letting go of his old profession. Meanwhile, Johansson has just recently jumped back into the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Black Widow, having started production on Captain America: The Winter Soldier with Chris Evans, Samuel L. Jackson and Robert Redford. She will next be seen in Joseph Gordon-Levitt's directorial debut Don Jon, which will be in theaters in October.
