Quick, name one historical figure you’d love to see brought to the big screen in glorious, big budget 3D. If you said Harold Lloyd then pat yourself on the back because that would indeed make for an entertaining 3D biopic, but apparently no one but us thinks it’s a good idea. Instead, Hollywood is returning to the well of cinematic epics from days gone by and is preparing to dust one off for an update of sorts… and they’ve got some pretty big heavy hitters already interested.
Per Deadline Kapuskasing, Sony Pictures is extremely keen on making a big budget Cleopatra film, and they may already have a director and star in place. Angelina Jolie has long spoken of her desire to play the role of Egypt’s final pharaoh, and many people consider her exotic looks and apparent charisma to make her a natural for such a powerful and well known historical character. On the other side of the camera Sony has garnered the attention of James Cameron. Interest has piqued most recently thanks to a new script from Brian Helgeland (L.A. Confidential) based off the recent bestseller, Cleopatra: A Life, by Staci Schiff, that paints the formidable ruler in a far different light than people are used to. This will not be Elizabeth Taylor’s Cleopatra…
It’s a well known fact that the real Cleopatra was also a bobble-head, so Jolie is of course the perfect fit for the role. Her proportionately giant head is perfect for wearing all manner of Egyptian headdress, and her lips are seemingly designed to suck the venom from an asp. As for Cameron, he lost a lot of respect (but made a ton of cash) with Avatar, but he was a fun and entertaining filmmaker before getting lost up his own ass with the Na’avi. It would be great to see him bring his skills and expertise to a smart script written by someone else. A film like this will probably redefine the word ‘epic’ in regards to scale, scope, and price tag which means Cameron and Jolie may be the only pairing that can move Cleopatra into production.
What do you think? And more importantly, what does this news mean for Steven Soderbergh’s planned 3D rock musical, Cleo?
Related Topics: Angelina Jolie, James Cameron
