Aronofsky's ballet thriller lures distributor

Producer and director Darren Aronofsky (L) and producer Scott Franklin accept the award for Best Feature for ''The Wrestler'' at the 24th annual Spirit Awards in Santa Monica, California February 21, 2009.

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Fox Searchlight is going to the ballet.

The specialty division of 20th Century Fox will co-finance and distribute "Black Swan," a supernatural thriller from Darren Aronofsky, the director of "The Wrestler."

"Black Swan" centers on a young dancer at the New York City Ballet (Natalie Portman) who may or may not be having delusions about a rival dancer (Mila Kunis). The cast also includes Winona Ryder, Barbara Hershey and French actor Vincent Cassell.

The project, which began life at Universal before being reconceived as an indie, has drawn comparisons to "The Others" and other high-end supernatural thrillers.

Shooting is scheduled to start in New York before the end of the year, with a budget estimated to be $10 million-$12 million.

Fox Searchlight, which also distributed Aronofsky's awards-season favorite "The Wrestler," had long been eyeing "Black Swan," but had not made any commitments until just recently. It will partner on the film with Cross Creek Pictures, replacing Overnight Films, which is off the project.