Natalie Portman “is a strong likelihood” to play Rosa Saks in the film adaptation of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, Michael Chabon announced Wednesday.

“The fate of this project–whether it will move at last from the nebulousness of pre-pre-production into really-truly pre-production, with a budget and cast and everything, will be decided on or around 12 July 2006,” Chabon said in a posting on his Web site.

Casting continues, Chabon said, along with the script, with “a lot of cutting” taking place. Several “top-drawer” animation students are conducting tests for the movie’s comic book sequences, Chabon said.

Portman, of Star Wars and V for Vendetta fame, previously came up as a possibility for the role of Rosa in a January 2005 Web site update by Chabon, in which he called her “perfect” for the role. Other casting rumors at the time included Tobey Maguire as Sam Clay and Jamie Bell as Joe Kavalier.

Chabon also briefly confirmed the existence of certain scenes and themes, including the Golem, a gay love story and Salvador Dali. He also confirmed Kavalier would go to Antarctica, a scene his wife, Ayelet Waldman, had said in 2002 audiences would “never see” on film.

However, several notables are missing from the film at this moment, Chabon said, including the ruins of the World’s Fair, Long Island, Orson Wells, any references to Betty and Veronica, and Stan Lee.