It took Aronofsky and Portman over a decade—and a lot of “kicking and screaming,” as he puts it—to convince Fox Searchlight to put up half of the film’s $13 million budget and ultimately get Black Swan into theaters. But to be fair, when have studio executives ever foamed at the mouth to make an arthouse horror film set in the world of ballet, one that ends with its heroine taking her own life?
Photo: Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures
“Everyone passed on Black Swan, and I mean everyone,” Aronofsky says. “There was one executive who said the movie would never work because ‘ballet fans don’t like horror, and horror fans don’t like ballet.’”
Yet his and Portman’s belief in the material paid off. When Black Swan debuted in December 2010, it raked in nearly $330 million worldwide, becoming Fox Searchlight’s second-highest-grossing film to date after Slumbdog Millionaire. Portman won the best-actress Oscar for her electrifying performance, and the film received four other nominations—for best picture, director, cinematography, and editing—among numerous other accolades.
This summer, on August 21 and 24 only, a newly remastered version of the film will play on IMAX screens across the country, where attendees can also snag—on a first-come, first-serve basis—a limited-edition, double-sided poster created exclusively for the re-release. And in December, Rodarte—which produced a few key costumes in the film, including Portman’s show-stopping stage looks for the finale—will launch a limited-edition Black Swan capsule collection.
Photo: Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures
Photo: Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures
Here, to commemorate 15 years of Black Swan, Aronofsky, Portman, and Kunis reunited to chat with Vogue about the making of the film.