According to Deadline.com, Warner Bros has either tested or made approaches to a bevy of A-list actresses, including Abbie Cornish, for the female leading role in Alfonso Cuaron’s Gravity. The studio needs an actress who can hold the screen and draw an audience to an $80 million film. Much like Tom Hanks’ role in Cast Away, the Gravity heroine is the only person onscreen for a large part of the movie.

Angelina Jolie has been the frontrunner for the role but she has passed on it, and hence put Warner Bros in a bind. Besides Abbie, the studio is also interested in Sandra Bullock, Natalie Portman, Naomi Watts, Marion Cotillard, Carey Mulligan, Scarlett Johansson, Sienna Miller, Rebecca Hall, Olivia Wilde and Blake Lively.

Scripted by Cuaron and his son Jonas, Gravity is set on a remote space station. While a team leader (Robert Downey Jr.) and a female colleague are traveling outside, the other team members get wiped out by a debris field from an exploding satellite. The film’s central focus is the heroine’s desperate attempt to return home to her child. The intention is to shoot the film next year after Downey completes Sherlock Holmes 2.

Personally, I think this sounds like an interesting and an ambitious project and it would be a truly fantastic opportunity if Abbie did end up getting cast. I think Abbie is a tremendious talent and I have no doubt at all whether or not she could carry a film. However, I suppose it is doubtful that she will end up playing the part since the studio is looking for an actress as famous as Jolie for the $80 million blockbuster movie. At least they do seem to be interested in Abbie since they have tested her so keep your fingers crossed!