14 DAY TRIAL // While he’s working on the sequel to the highly successful “Avatar,” officially the biggest movie of all times, James Cameron is also looking into another project, as he’s been approached to direct “Cleopatra” with Angelina Jolie.
Word that Stacy Schiff’s book “Cleopatra: A Life” was being made into a film first came out this summer, when it was also confirmed that Angelina Jolie would play the lead.
Also then, it was said that Brad Pitt might also be cast in the film, possibly as Marc Anthony, but his involvement in the project remains sketchy to this day.
While Pitt’s part is yet to be confirmed, word has it that James Cameron is being considered to direct the epic, a choice that might just make of it a hit, Deadline reports.
Cameron himself is said to be very interested and to have said so after he found out that Jolie was eager to get production on the film started.
The fact that there will be few limits in terms of budget could also have contributed to make the project seem very appealing to Cameron, who is not the kind of director to work with studios that are very strict about financing.
“James Cameron and Sony Pictures Entertainment are exploring the very real possibility that he will direct Angelina Jolie in a 3D version of Cleopatra, an SPE adaptation of the Stacy Schiff book Cleopatra: A Life,” Deadline reports.
“Jolie is attached and anxious to make the movie. Scott Rudin, who acquired the book, is producer. The talks are serious but by no means conclusive yet,” says the e-zine.
“Sony Pictures Entertainment Co-Chair Amy Pascal decided to fast-track its PG-13 and 3D Cleopatra project after screenwriter Bran Helgeland wrote what was is being described as a ‘brilliant script deserving of epic treatment’ all about ‘what the Romans took from Egypt’,” Deadline further states.
At the same time, Pascal is determined to have Sony own the Angelina Jolie franchise, just like it owns the Will Smith and Adam Sandler franchises, which means she is confident Jolie can carry a movie of this magnitude on her own.
“Pascal is hoping for a start date in 2011 but has acknowledged that ‘it won’t be cheap’ and is calling this her Gone With The Wind epic,” Deadline further says.