14 DAY TRIAL // Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are to appear on the big screen together again and it’s not for a sequel to the critical bomb but commercial hit “Mr. and Mrs. Smith.” Stacy Schiff’s book “Cleopatra: A Life” is being made into film and details for the entire production are being ironed out with Jolie in mind, the author herself has confirmed for USA Today.
This would not be the first time Angelina sinks her teeth in a period piece, though it would be a first in terms of her doing so with real life partner Brad Pitt. According to Schiff, negotiations are underway for Jolie to take over where Elizabeth Taylor left off with the part that nearly ran 20th Century Fox into bankruptcy. Pitt is also being considered, though his involvement in the project is, right now, sketchy at best.
“Was Cleopatra really a beauty? Most of us probably picture Elizabeth Taylor at her most voluptuous. In her forthcoming biography of the Queen of the Nile, Cleopatra: A Life (Little, Brown, November), author Stacy Schiff points out that ‘we have little idea of what she actually looked like.’ And if Cleopatra were to be cast today? Angelina Jolie would be our choice,” USA Today writes. And this is not just a rumor either, as Schiff herself says things are going in the right direction with getting Jolie to do the film.
“At a lunch this week in Manhattan to promote the book, Schiff and Little, Brown publisher Michael Pietsch said film producer Scott Rudin has bought the rights to Schiff’s book, envisioning Jolie in the role. (Rudin’s office confirms that the project ‘is being developed for and with Jolie.’) Schiff says Jolie fills the bill. ‘Physically, she’s the perfect look,’ she says. Brad Pitt is a no-brainer for Mark Antony. Julius Caesar? That one had Schiff temporarily stumped,” the same report further says.
In recent months, Angelina Jolie has been keeping very busy: she has an action movie coming out this summer, “Salt,” where she plays spy Evelyn Salt, and is working with Johnny Depp on “The Tourist.” While she reportedly turned down an offer to reprise her role in “Wanted 2,” she has been approached to portray forensic investigator Dr. Kay Scarpetta from Patricia Cornwell’s popular crime novels.