The first hi-res photos of Natalie directing a segment for New York, I Love You have surfaced online! She was spotted in appropriate directing gear in New York on April 29.

New York, I Love You is a compilation of love stories set in New York, and is a sequel of sorts to Paris, je t’aime (2006), in which Natalie also starred. New York, I Love You will mark Natalie’s writing and directing debut, and should be one of her most interesting projects to date.

New & Updated Photo Albums:

• ‘The Country Girl’ Broadway Opening Night on Apr 22
• On Set ‘New York, I Love You’ on Apr 29

Variety (which is generally a reliable movie news source) makes a brief mention of Natalie’s New York, I Love You directorial debut in a recent Carlos Acosta-related article:

Acosta is currently filming in a segment of the movie New York I Love You directed by Natalie Portman.

Just a quick-heads up to Star Wars fanatics (like myself) - according to The Hollywood Reporter, Natalie’s Star Wars co-star Hayden Christensen has joined the cast of New York, I Love You!

We may be looking at another new movie project for Natalie (though please bear in mind this is, as of yet, only a rumor)! According to The Hollywood Reporter, Natalie is attached to a(nother) silver screen rendition of Wuthering Heights. From The Hollywood Reporter:

Natalie Portman is attached to star as romantic fiction icon Catherine Earnshaw in a new silver-screen adaptation of Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights, being produced by Ecosse Films. Ecosse’s Robert Bernstein and Douglas Rae will produce from a script by Olivia Hetreed (Girl With a Pearl Earring). HanWay Films will handle worldwide sales for the project, which is being directed by John Maybury.

Bronte’s Heights, one of the classics of English literature, tells of the intense, elemental and yet ultimately thwarted passion between Earnshaw and Heathcliff. [...] Ecosse and HanWay believe they have an iconic jewel in Portman. “Natalie is without a doubt one of the most acclaimed actresses of her generation,” HanWay’s Tim Haslam said. “Combined with visionary director John Maybury, this promises to be a fresh, exciting version of a classic love story.” Ecosse’s Robert Bernstein praised the actress’ ability to bring “intensity and depth” to roles. No start date has been set.

In New York, I Love You news, The Hollywood Reporter has named Natalie as the writerof the as of yet unspecified segment in the film that will mark her directorial debut.

As most of you will already know, Natalie has recently been filming scenes for her Mira Nair-directed segment for New York, I Love You (of which we have proof in the shape of a good many on set-photos). However, the website of the production company of the film also lists Natalie as one of the directors! From VisitorPictures.com:

The universal theme of encountering and celebrating love is told in 12 separate stories taking place in the five boroughs of New York City. Directed by Faith Akin, Yvan Attal, Alan Hughes, Shunji Iwai, Scarlett Johnansson, Shekhar Kapur, Joshua Martson, Mira Nair, Natalie Portman, Brett Ratner, Jiang Wen and Andrey Zvyaginstev. Starring Carlos Acosta, Isabelle Adjani, Kevin Bacon, Justin Bartha, Rachel Bilson, James Caan, Orlando Bloom, Hayden Christiansen, Bradley Cooper, Chris Cooper, Taylor Geare, Ethan Hawke, Irrfan Khan, Cloris Leachman, Drea de Matteo, Emilie Ohana, Natalie Portman, Maggie Q, Shu Qi, Olivia Thirlby, Eli Wallach, Saul Williams, Robin Wright-Penn, and Anton Yelchin and Ugur Yücel.

Aww. Many news sources are reporting Hasidic Jew-turned-actor Abe Karpen has chosen to leave the production of New York, I Love You because of disapproval from his religious community. Karpen was set to play Natalie Portman’s husband in the Mira Nair-directed segment Kosher Vegetarian, but has chosen to back out of the film mid-production. From NYDailyNews:

First he couldn’t hold Natalie Portman’s hand - and now a Williamsburg Hasidic Jew-turned-actor has to give up his chance to hit it big in a Hollywood movie. Abe Karpen, 25, a married father of three, was cast as Portman’s husband in New York I Love You, a film composed of 12 short stories about love in the five boroughs.

“I am backing out of the movie,” said Karpen, a kitchen cabinet salesman. “It’s not acceptable in my community. It’s a lot of pressure I am getting. They [the rabbis] didn’t like the idea of a Hasidic guy playing in Hollywood. “I have my kids in religious schools and the rabbi called me over yesterday and said in order for me to keep my kids in the school I have to do what they tell me and back out,” Karpen said. While news of Karpen’s withdrawal sent waves of disappointment through the movie set, the Hasidic community was up in arms over Karpen’s acting gig - forcing him to flee for the weekend, a friend said.

“We are very sorry that this has created a problem for him personally and for the community,” said the film’s executive producer, Jan Korbelin. “He’s a great ambassador of his faith and it came out of the left field. … This is the last thing this picture should be doing,” Korbelin said. “This film is about love and understanding between different people and communities.”

Check out our photos from March 12 of Natalie shooting the film in Brooklyn, New York with Karpen.

New York certainly seems to love Nat. We have ca. 30 more medium- and hi-res photos from the set of New York, I Love You, which Natalie is currently filming in Brooklyn, New York, including footage from earlier today thanks to the good people at Just Jared. Without further ado, click on the below gallery links or preview to see the new photos.

Update Mar 15: We have even more hi-res additions to the March 13 album. Oh, and pay no attention to Egotastic claiming Natalie’s Boleyn co-star Scarlett Johansson is supposedly directing Natalie’s Kosher Vegetarian segment in New York, I Love You; as far as I know, Natalie’s segment is directed by Mira Nair, while Johansson will direct another segment of the film starring Kevin Bacon.

New & Updated Photo Albums:

• Filming ‘New York, I Love You’ on March 12 2008 *updated
• Filming ‘New York, I Love You’ on March 13 2008 *updated
• Filming ‘New York, I Love You’ on March 14 2008

Fabulous news, everyone! I think we can add another project to Natalie’s list of upcoming films, as new footage of Natalie filming a segment for New York, I Love You has surfaced online. Thanks to the good people at Just Jared we have a few photos of Nat on set in Brooklyn, New York. SAWF.org also has some footage as well as information regarding the film and its production, but if you want to remain entirely spoiler-free, you might want to skip it.

You’ll recall that some time back we reported Natalie would be starring in Kosher Vegetarian, filmed by Mira Nair and co-starring Irrfan Khan. It would seem this is the title for the New York, I Love You segment she is filming. The film is similar to Paris, je t’aime, which is a film about love stories set in Paris, France from 2006. Whether this is a follow-up to that film or not, I can’t say, but it does seem possible (if not probable). Check out the IMDb page for New York, I Love You for details!

Update: We have more photos of Natalie shooting the film in Brooklyn, NY, this time on March 12, once again thanks to Just Jared. It also looks like Natalie’s Boleyn sister Scarlett Johansson is working on the film, although another segment than Natalie’s.

New Photo Albums:

• Filming ‘New York, I Love You’ on March 12 2008
• Filming ‘New York, I Love You’ on March 13 2008