Natalie Portman may be too mature to star in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies – the 29-year-old actress dropped out of that film last week – but she's evidently not too old to kick some ass in Ridley Scott's Alien prequel. Portman is reportedly the frontrunner for the lead female role in 20th Century Fox's reboot-in-progress.

According to Vulture, Portman has the inside track to portray a Colonial Marine general in the planned sci-fi movie. Her main competition: Swedish actress Noomi Rapace of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo fame.

If Portman wins the gig, it would represent a marked departure from her recent string of art-house dramas, including Brothers and the upcoming Black Swan, opening Dec. 1, in which she plays an anguished ballet dancer.

A script rewrite turned in earlier this week by Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof has fueled new momentum for the project, estimated to cost about $150 million.

The studio might shoot for a PG-13 for the movie, according to sources who said the original Alien might have gotten that rating if a few F-bombs were excised. "The later Aliens movies were action movies, but the original Alien was a horror-suspense film," an unnamed insider told Vulture. "This returns the franchise to its roots."

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