James Cameron and producer Scott Rudin are tentatively attached to develop a 3D Cleopatra biopic. Sony Pictures Entertainment acquired the rights to Pulitzer Prize-winning author Stacy Schiff’s biography, Cleopatra: A Life. They want Angelina Jolie to play the title role. Jolie is reportedly very interested and anxious to start filming. I personally think she would do an amazing job as the Egyptian pharaoh. She has the look and the star power to carry this film, which will surely be a huge production since Cameron doesn’t make movies for less than $200 million anymore.
However, the Cleopatra role has had some stigma associated with it in the past. Elizabeth Taylor played Cleopatra in Joseph Mankiewicz’s 1963 epic, Cleopatra. Taylor almost died of pneumonia while filming; she had to have a tracheotomy to stay alive. Also, the film almost bankrupt 20th Century Fox. The original budget was set at $2 million but quickly swelled to $44 million ($300 million in today’s dollars, which is how much Avatar’s production budget was). Taylor fell in love with Richard Burton (who played Mark Antony in the feature) while filming, ruining both of their marriages. However, they were supposedly arguing and fighting for most of the film’s shooting, making it hard for everyone else to work. Although the film grossed $26 million (the most out of any film in 1963) and won 4 Academy Awards, Cleopatra is widely regarded as biggest production disaster in the history of cinema.
Jolie is hoping that Brad Pitt will land the role of Mark Antony. Let’s hope that this version of Cleopatra won’t have as many problems as the 1963 version did.
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