“THE Days of Abandonment,” a feature film set at HBO and starring Natalie Portman, is no longer moving forward at the network after Portman unexpectedly left the project. “The Days of Abandonment” was in pre-production at HBO and was to be directed by Maggie Betts based on a novel by author Elena Ferrante, but production will no longer move forward. “Due to unforeseen personal reasons, Natalie Portman has stepped down from HBO Films ‘Days of Abandonment’ prior to the start of filming. Unfortunately, the production will not move forward. We are very sorry we won’t be able to bring this beautiful story to the screen with our talented writer/director and cast. We send our sincere thanks to our cast, producers, and crew for all their passion and hard work,” HBO said in a statement. Representatives for Portman did not immediately respond to media’s request for comment, but they declined to comment or elaborate further as to the reason for Portman’s departure in speaking to THR, which first reported the news. (SD-Agencies) | 