Filmmaker James Cameron is known for strong female characters. Cleopatra is considered one of the greatest women in history. Angelina Jolie is one of Hollywood’s few marquee actresses. Match made in box office heaven? We’ll see!
For a few months, Angelina Jolie has been interested in portraying the legendary Queen of the Nile in a new film (the actress supposedly has a “lifelong fascination” with Cleopatra). And now she, producer Scott Rudin and Sony have a script from Brian Helgeland (A KNIGHT’S TALE, ROBIN HOOD) that is reportedly a “brilliant script deserving of epic treatment”, and they want Cameron to deliver it.
The 3D PG-13 movie will be adapted in part from writer Stacy Schiff’s recent biography “Cleopatra: A Life”, and will obviously focus on the Egyptian pharaoh, her relationships with Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, and her leadership and resistance to Roman imperialism. Previously, Cleopatra was perhaps most famously depicted by Elizabeth Taylor in the notoriously expensive 1963 saga.
It remains to be seen if Cameron will commit — he’s also developing the AVATAR sequel and producing projects like Guillermo del Toro’s anticipated AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS.