It’s incredibly early, but a source confirms Deadline Hollywood’s report today that James Cameron is having exploratory conversations with Sony Pictures about coming aboard the Cleopatra project the studio is developing for Angelina Jolie as a star vehicle. Brian Helgeland (Green Zone, Robin Hood) is writing the script and Social Network producer Scott Rudin is on board to produce. The project is based on Stacy Schiff’s book Cleopatra: A Life.
That’s one A-list combination, and it would be interesting to see them tackle the fascinating story of the Egyptian queen. Stay tuned…
So if James Cameron directs, I assume it will be in 3D.
At least he’s not writing it. I hate Cameron’s cliched dialogue.
not necessarily mate
Damn, if that’s true, it would be the epitome of A-list…from writer to directo to producer to star. I bet it will be costly as heck, but hopefully it won’t be the disaster that other Cleopatra (the one with the purple-eyed, raven-haired beauty) was…
Just make Avatar 2 already, James, no one wants to see Cleopatra. Yawn.
I agree, JPX. Please make AVATAR 2 ASAP!! (Which means in, like, 3 years?!) Anyway, THAT’S the movie I cannot wait to see.
And a lot of people don’t want to see Avatar 2…
@ woot: right. the original does over 2 BILLION dollars worldwide… and no one wants to see avatar 2? get off my lawn, troll.
I don’t want to see Avatar 2 and I know a lot of other people who wouldn’t want to see it either. Once you get past how great the movie looks, you realize there is nothing else there.
Isn’t she a little old? I mean, if she gained a little weight and filled out she’d look bananas, but now she just looks frail.
unless it’s CG ala Beowulf. That did wonders…
anyway, sounds like an interesting project! Can’t wait to see it.
Cameron’s a hack.
Uhh…what? Might want to check out T2, Aliens, The Terminator, etc.
Cleopatra was young and black! At least give it to the girl who was in Avatar and Star Trek if you’re going to make yet another Cleo movie at all!
Cleopatra was actually a Greek Egyptian queen of the Hellenic dynasties; much more plausible she was of a more Mediterranean complexion, for which Jolie could pass for. As for her age, if Cameron’s got any sense for an interesting story, he’ll centre it during/post battle of Actium, so she would actually be the right age for the role.
I’m sure she was blacker when she was younger… wait… that doesn’t make sense.
Cleo was Greek. Stop reading those Texas history books. *LOL*
made me laugh
hahahah that is awesome and so true!!
Cleopatra was not dark skinned. She was olive skinned but not black. Her father was greek. Nefertiti was dark skinned but not Cleopatra.
have you got a photo of her? lol
Good. So let Hollywood make a film of Nefertiti using that black girl in The Losers. She is really cute.
@A-K87
Have YOU got a photo of her. History was written by the OPPRESSORS so they’ll claim anything and those exploited have to accept unless they get educated. Cleopatra and Nefertiti were black.
Barbara – It doesn’t matter who wroet the history. It is fact that Cleopatra was of Macedonian decent, from the Ptolemaic dynasty that had a habit of marrying within the family to keep the blood pure. She was of European descent.
Barbara you are a moron. GET A HISTORY BOOK!! The history of her family was written well before the events of Cleopatra’s life ever took place and it is a hard fact that she was the descendant of Ptolemy I who was Alexander the Great’s bodyguard and BOTH WERE GREEK. If you were educated then you would know that.
Barbara–Jennifer is correct. The Ptolemis were Greek, not Nubian. Remember that the Greeks (then the Romans) occupied most of the Meditteranean basis back in the day.
OMG, HD that’s inspired. I’d more likely to pay to see Zoe Saldana bring Cleopatra to life than Jolie. How about it, Cameron?
Agreed. Saldana is so awesome and cute
HD, read a book.
JC, work on Battle Angel first, Ava 2-3 and then do whatever you ant.
Black Cleo = LOL, it holds as much weight as looney creationism.
Cleopatra was from the Ptolemaic Dynasty, decended from the Macedonian general of Alexander the Great who took Egypt as his slice of the empire. (Even her name is Greek.) No one knows what Cleopatra really looked like, but coins from her time depict her as not a raving beauty.
As for Egyptians, they are of varying skin tones, as they are a blend of various peoples from the area.
Before you make a comment you should do research to avoid sounding stupid. Cleopatra was Macedonian which was a region in northern GREECE. Her family the Ptolemies were hugely inbred and there was ZERO african descent in her and this is a hard fact! Don’t start with the racial crap. She was GREEK.
No real reason to be hostile, right?
She is too old
You seem to be forgetting no one had a problem with Elizabeth Taylor being Cleopatra & wasn’t she born in England?
The film bombed!!!
Perfect casting, like her or not, Jolie was meant to play Cleopatra, as was Elizabeth Taylor. Jolie is actually the right age to portray the most interesting time of Cleopatra’s life, and Cleopatra was Greek, which means white not black. My Mother is Greek with blue eyes, and she is as white as Jennifer Aniston (also Greek), well, Jennifer without her tan…
The world isn’t (and wasn’t) cut up into strict rows of Black, White and Browns. Nobody knows what Cleopatra looked like. Please stop assuming what she looked like based on what your mum looks like 2000 years later!! It makes you sound like a stereotypical ignorant American.
“It makes you sound like a stereotypical ignorant American.”
Can we please not inject this sort of crap into this debate? And replying to a “stereotypically ignorant American” in that fashion makes you look equally ignorant and narrow-minded.
Cleopatra may not have been a blue-eyed blond, but given her ancestry, her complexion was probably not terribly dark.
It really honestly doesn’t matter what shade her skin was because she was Greek and this is a fact. People here need to get a clue.
How cool with that be …And Angleina is perfect…before I read this article I jsut wrote she would be a great choice for the role-Excellent
Why is the role of Cleopatra always being played by a Caucasion woman; no offense at all, BUT Cleopatra was Egyptian, RIGHT!?.
She was Macedonian. Read history (or at least the other comments).
Totally correct. I was absolutely offended when they Cameron a bunch of humans to play Na’vi. So racist.
ha ha yeah the juicy parts went to humans while the real na’vi were relegated to background roles
I think for the simple fact that white women have gotten plenty of roles that should have gone to non-white actresses maybe another actress should have been considered. But clearly this movie is only being made for Jolie. This is not about an accurate portrayal of Cleopatra, it’s about making money. I personally don’t like Jolie, but even I am curious about how gorgeous she’s going to look done-up as Cleopatra. That is the point.
If they used a non-white actress then it wouldn’t be historically accurate. She WAS white.
No not right. She was Greek. The time her family, the Ptolemies, was known as the “Hellenistic” period because they were from Greece. Cleopatra was actually the first of her family to even learn how to speak Egyptian.
Oh boy. CGI boats, oceans, palaces, armies, slaves…and all in glorious 3D!
Cameron haters can suck it. he did more for strong female roles than many other directors/writers. Cleopatra is a perfect fit for him and Jolie and is Helgeland script is as good as rumour has it, this could be something special.
it doesn’t help your cause that you’re tipsy
Before the “Cleopatra was Egyptian” stuff goes too far, a history lesson: Cleopatra’s family was descended from Ptolemy, one of Alexander the Great’s general whom he left in charge of Egypt. Meaning, her family was Macedonian (basically, ethnically “Greek”), not Egyptian. Meaning you can’t automatically presume that she was black or dark-skinned.
nerd!
I admire Jolie as an actress and activist but she is too old for the role…not to mention the wrong race. I would think Zoe Saldana would be very interesting, or maybe an Egyptian actress
Did you bother reading any of the previous posts? Cleopatra was the last memeber of a Macedonian dynasty that ruled Egypt for about 300 years. Even her name is Greek.
*facepalm*
This is kind of awesome.