Elle Fanning In Talks to Lead Nicolas Winding Refn's Horror Film THE NEON DEMON

Though Elle Fanning had roles in movies like The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Somewhere in the late 2000s, she didn't deliver her first breakout performance until she appeared in J.J. Abrams' 2011 movie Super 8. Since then she's balanced huge movies (last year's Maleficent being the biggest yet) with a nice selection of smaller films, and now she has a chance to meet in the middle for a really interesting project with one of the industry's most fascinating directors.

The Wrap reports that Fanning is in negotiations to lead Nicolas Winding Refn's female-driven horror film The Neon Demon. She'd play "an aspiring model caught in a world of beauty and demise," which sounds very much like the kind of ethereal, moody plot we've come to expect from Refn these days. The director of Drive spoke about the genesis of this project a few months ago:

“One morning I woke and realized I was both surrounded and dominated by women. Strangely, a sudden urge was planted in me to make a horror film about vicious beauty.”

This has the potential to be a lot more accessible than Refn's last film, the impenetrable Only God Forgives. Here's hoping this pairing results in an awesome L.A.-based horror film that will be remembered for many years to come. Refn seems to be pumped to work with the young actress, saying:

“Elle Fanning is a super cool wonder woman and I look forward to going on a terrifying trip with her into ‘The Neon Demon.’”