The rumors about Angelina Jolie playing Cleopatra in a new bio-pic have been swirling for a year, ever since Stacy Schiff’s book, Cleopatra: A Life, was published and Schiff openly discussed her dream of Jolie playing the role. When we last checked in with the pre-production stages, James Cameron was allegedly talking to producers about directing the bio-pic, with Jolie in the lead. According to Deadline, however, Cameron is now out and David Fincher has been approached. While I doubt Fincher will take it, it’s an interesting development. Fincher’s currently working on the English-language adaptation of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, and I’m already afraid he’s going to screw it up.
What has happened with Sony Pictures’ plans to mount an exciting new biopic of Cleopatra, with Angelina Jolie attached as the Egyptian queen, based on Stacy Schiff’s bestselling book Cleopatra: A Life? I’m told the director conversation right now is with David Fincher, who just got a Best Director Oscar nomination working with Cleopatra producer Scott Rudin, and who is working with Rudin on the Stieg Larsson novel adaptation The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, also at Sony Pictures.
You’ll recall last October that Deadline revealed James Cameron’s keen interest in directing a PG-13 3D version of the movie with a Brian Helgeland script, until 20th Century Fox stepped up and got him to commit instead to two Avatar sequels. After that, speculation centered around Paul Greengrass, who wound up instead directing his own script, Memphis, about the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., for Universal, also with Rudin producing.
It’s not surprising that the top directors in town are after this gig. As Rudin has described it, this is the first telling of the Cleopatra story from a woman’s perspective. Instead of simply being a seductress, as she was portrayed by Elizabeth Taylor in the 1963 Joseph L. Mankiewicz-directed film, Cleopatra is also a shrewd politician, strategist and warrior, with sexual charisma to spare. The feeling is the role is a perfect fit for Jolie, who might be the only actress right now with the box office might to get such a large film financed. Jolie is very particular about the directors she works with. This would be her first film with Fincher.
I’m told that the Fincher conversation might come down to timing. Sony Pictures wants to get this film under way soon. There are three bestsellers in Larsson’s The Millennium Trilogy, and Dragon Tattoo scribe Steve Zaillian is already scripting the second book, The Girl Who Played With Fire. Fincher is expected to return. He is also attached to Disney’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Captain Nemo. There are a lot of conversations going on about this film, including setting a new writer, and whether Cleopatra will be in 3D without Cameron. The studio would not comment on the Fincher conversations, but I’m persuaded it is more likely than not to happen.
[From Deadline]
Ugh, 3D?!? Does Cleopatra’s story really need to be told in 3D?
Beyond that – if this is going to be such a powerful, feminist take on Cleopatra, why not just get a female director? How about mentioning it to Kathryn Bigelow instead of throwing a sausage party for the directorial hire? Also: Fincher has a close relationship with Brad Pitt, but Fincher and Jolie have never worked together before. I worry that if Fincher comes on as director, he would cast Brad in a role. Ugh.
Photos courtesy of Fame & WENN.
I hope that Brad doesn’t do this movie. I think Fincher could be one of the few directors not to F this up but really I don’t think Angelina should do this either. I think there is way too much baggage from the E. Taylor disaster to the controversy about her ethnicity on. I think Angelina should try to work with Darren Aronofsky and do a more gritty darker role.
I love her so much and I know she has had veiny arms forever but its becoming more and more like Madonna freak fest :L
I STILL LOVE HER THO
The kids are so adorbs
I would watch her play Cleo but damn if I will if its in 3D – 3D is just ruining movies!
I would like to see her play Cleopatra, as long as it’s not cheesy.
Geez, what is up with Angelina’s arms in that last picture?
YIKES!! look at her arms!!
@Ari
Yeah, the veiny arms aren’t even under stress. She needs more meat on them bones.
I also would like to see a female director. Someone who could take AJ out of her sterotype an guide her to a real historically accurate performance…rather than the AJ as a crazed heroine spear chucker 3D so accomodates….*audience ducks and breathes a sign of relief they weren’t hit*.
The producers could have a post production sausage, aka dong party.
I can only hope (in vain) that this is a whole lot of hot air. I mean, Angelina in 3D as Cleopatra? So… pretty much the love child of “Alexander” and “Beowulf” then? Both of those were TERRIBLE, so I can just imagine what their unholy celluloid offspring will be like.
The veins… what is happening there?
She is a walking corpse. Feed her.
I would be my last dollar she using drugs.
Drugs and prominent veins have nothing to do with each other. Prominent veins are often genetic and veins can become prominent or more prominent with pregnancy.
There is nothing, zilch that would indicate Jolie uses drugs.
Of course how could anyone come to the idea she’s on drugs? AJ, she is a saint.
Actually I think she has gained a bit of weight. (I am not trying to start pregnancy rumors) Who else remembers the time she was in the airport with the kids and you could see every distinct muscle in her legs(During the Salt promotion). She definitely has more fat there and more in the chest area.
I really don’t think a female director is necessary to tell a feminist story. Seriously, does that mean the entire crew should be female too?
As you get older the skin gets thinner and bulging veins become far more noticeable. If you don’t have very much fat the veins seem to stand out even more.
When I’m quite lean you can see the veins in my arms and eyelids quite clearly as they look like they’re trying to pop out. I’m fearing how it will look as I age.
I don’t believe she is using drugs.
or food. (kidding! actually, her body doesn’t look too skinny to me. just the arms.)
oh, and not one but TWO Avatar sequels?…
when will Hollywood accept the ONE-off idea?… 🙁
Ok… the arms are scary.
I wouldn’t go and see this film with or without AJ and/or 3D so I don’t really care who stars in it or directs it. It will likely end up being a film that wants to teach you a “lesson” (has a message) rather than having much to do with who Cleopatra really was. I go to movies to be entertained, not to have someone’s message shoved down my throat after I’ve had the privilege of paying $10 to see it.
Besides, if they want to do a film on “woman power in Egypt” they should do it on Hapshepsut not Cleopatra.
her body is 2D
I would like to see a historically accurate story that let’s see, is historically accurate. Like actually using Egyptian actors or actors who resemble Africans and I love Angelina, but it’s crazy when the I can only think of Mel Gibson’s, Apocalypto, as a big movie that made an attempt to stay true to the real characters and not go for the big names. And they need to not make her so soft and beautiful and stay true to her ruthlessness as any leader had to be!
Totally off the subject, I loved The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo in it’s original Swedish form. I don’t know Swedish but the subtitles were easy enough to read and weren’t distracting at all.
Secondly, I have prominent veins in my arms, too, and I’m not on drugs. It’s genetic (for me).
Cleopatra looked nothing like angelina.
Sbe wasnt a very pretty woman, but she had charm and charisma.
But probably this film isnt going to be remotely close to the real story.
I think a female director would be a good idea for this film.
A female director could really get into the meat of the character and not show her as this femme fatale but more as what she was which was, as the article says, a shrewd politician. Female directors who get into the major films are no shrinking violets and I think they would really understand the character and how to put Cleopatra on screen without falling into the “sexy seductress” (which she wasn’t) or “raging bitch” tropes that male directors are so fond of when it comes to strong female characters.
I hope Jolie stays away from this one. Cleopatra was not traditionally beautiful-it was her charisma and talent for politics (and you know, killing some folks) that allowed her to rule.
The veins in my hands and feet are more prominent when I’m hot, so I totally feel her pain here. At the end of a warm day, people would be saying the same things about my hands & feet that you’re saying about her arms. It sucks, but there’s nothing I can do about it.
Sorry what?
My attention went solely to the veins on her arms.
I have never seen vains so prominent on a woman’s arm before, like all the strength (and all the blood) in her body goes to her arms when she is holding the kids.
This 3-D bandwagon is crazy. Cleopatra? Really? I would so see that movie, but not if it’s in 3-D. My hubs is epileptic and 3-D films mess with him, with or without glasses. So if we’re splurging on a movie trip, those are always out. 🙁
snore…
dont care..
I too think Angelina is the only female actress right now who could get this financed. But I also would like to see her in this role too. Yes, I know it is not accurate but does anyone really KNOW any Egyptian actresses? Hollywood is interesting in $$$ and that, unfortunately, is the bottom line. Bigelow would be fabulous as the director too.
@Cali
Cleopatra was of Ptolemaic descent. She was Greek, not Egyptian/African. Angelina isn’t a very good fit for a Greek woman, but casting a North African actress would be no less historically inaccurate. Not that Hollywood will much care or even be interested either way. Historical accuracy has never been a real big priority in tinseltown.
cleopatra was black. just like the original cat woman was. hollywood: black irish does not equate black
@breana: Cleopatra was not black, she was of Greek-Macedonian decent. I’m so tired of people who keep bringing up the black-thing. Learn your history!
Cleopatra was not black. She was of Greek descent and most likely had blonde/brown hair and blue/green eyes. That is a historical fact. The Ptolemys weren’t even Eygptian.
Sheesh people.
And no, Angelina shouldn’t play Cleopatra. I think a lesser known actress would do better.
Smart and beautiful Angelina!
The veins in her arms have always been there.. When she was doing Alexander, Mr and Mrs. Smith.. Lara Croft every single movie. The thing is people were not making a big deal of them or didn’t notice. I have. Go back and look at any number of pics of her over the years and they are there. And that is just what her arms are like. Brad has a lot of veins in his arms too.
she has nothing slatted at the moment. She said she would like to do the film is the script is good. Meaning if she doesn’t like the script she has not problem in saying no.
As the Wanted 2 people or the writers of Gravity (who offered her boat loads of money..not once but 3 times) and she said no.
So we will see. I love David Fincher.. he and Brad have done some of my favorite movies.. and I would love for her to work with him. She has worked with some of the very best Directors out there.
Oh God, I so hope not! And if they cast Brad Pitt as Mark Antony I’m going to beat the casting director with his own arm. I’d love to see them work together again in an appropriate vehicle but one this ain’t it.
I can’t understand why Stacy Schiff thinks that yet another movie about Cleopatra has to be made unless she needs a tie-in to her third-rate bio. I tossed it midway through the third chapter.
@Cherry Rose: I don’t think anybody needs to play Cleopatra unless they can find some new and verifiable information about who she was and what she did, and Stacy Schiff’s book was a whole lot of nothing. All it did was prove how little anyone actually knows about Cleopatra and we don’t need another film to verify that face.
@breanna, egyptians are africans but not black.
i think 3D is a bad idea for this movie especially if they’re really planning to tell d story from a different angle and not d usual cleopatra sex goddess hype.
breana
I thought cleopatra was greek. Isnt northern africa mostly muslim from arab descent.
I would be afraid to tattoo myself over those Veins!!! Talk about Bleeding out!
Angelina as Cleopatra would be a diaster… Yuck!!! They need someone younger ……She Would likely be a very old lady back in those days!!
The idea of a Cleopatra movie is iffy for me to begin with, but 3D??? Egads. Plus I’m not a fan of Jolie in drama roles, especially ones that require accents, so this is not looking good.
But I like the idea of having a woman direct it, if it’s all about telling a female story. Not to say man can’t do that and vice versa, but it might bring a different perspective to it.
Do you know who is really greek? Jenny Aniston! I am so excited to see this super dooper movie, I love it when Angie does accents. So wonderful. Brad could be her slave or something!
They should cast Jennifer Aniston. She’s Greek isn’t she?
😉 😆
I’m looking forward to this film. I really hope it has a well crafted plot, if executed correctly this could be a timeless epic film. If done poorly, it could be a serious embarassment.
If Fincher is so busy, he shouldn’t do it. Whoever works on it should be devoted to the film, otherwise I think a distracted director would be a disaster. It’s too bad James Cameron is no longer involved, because he really gives projects the time and attention to detail that they need to be compelling.
i would love to see Angelina in this role, a larger well known actress would almost guarantee large tickets sales, and i admit, i am bias, but i trust Jolie in what she choose, like it or not, she is a respected name.
i hope she will work her accent and she was ridiculous and aawful in ALEXANDER and a woman director is a nice idea
@lisa: I agree with you. I don’t know why people act like Angelina’s veins are new. They’ve been like that forever. It’s the same with her weight. People act like she was obese when she’s been very thin since she was a teenager. I don’t know anthing about drugs except what’s shown in movies and tv but they always show that drug users have no veins not prominent ones. It’s funny that people like Lindsay Lohan, Charlie Sheen, Britney Spears, etc can have numerous public outbursts and nobody really cares. Angelina does absolutely nothing and she get called a psychotic, drug addict.
There’s no need for 3D for this type of movie. I don’t know why people think it’s needed for every movie.
I’ve never liked Angelina as an actress but after seing The Tourist, I’m done with her. She has only one face expression, horrible accents and she’s just so shallow in her acting. Of course, she’s not going to cry because I won’t see her movies any more but I won’t miss her either.
I know I’m the only person on earth who thinks this, but I just don’t get her appeal. I don’t think she’s a solid actress (I’ve seen some good stuff, some baaaad stuff from her),and I don’t find her attractive (don’t hit me!!!). Also, she looks ghastly. She needs to eat something. STAT.
Melanie… 😀 you’re so bad!
Another movie I won’t see…can’t stand her accents..shes very bad at it, among other things…I also don’t get the appeal at all..unless your waiting for her to do a Charlie Sheen moment..but Im sure she only does that behind closed doors.
Hmm, I actually prefer her old nose, as seen in the picture with the snake. She looks much more exotic.
And before any ‘fans’ start screaming that she’d never have work done and calling me a ‘hater’, save it. I’ve got eyes.
I also think her chest is fake. I saw her in Gia when she was carrying a lot more meat on her bones, and breasts don’t get bigger while the rest of you turns to skin and bones. Her arms and legs are just ridiculous now.
@someone I think you’ll end up going just so you can yell at the screen 🙂
I don’t understand the “race” uproar over an actress playing the part of Cleopatra. First, it’s acting, it isn’t real. Cleopatra (from what we know of her physically) wasn’t a “beauty” — she was powerful, sexy & charismatic, but kind of on the ugly side. Of course Hollywood always makes the characters prettier than the reality. It’s fantasy. My point is — a good actress should be able to play any role she wants. It is more important, imo, to cast an actress who embodies the substance/emotions of the character, not someone who is a “twin.” Further, considering the lack of lead female roles in Hollywood, more power to any actress who gets the part. Second, the fact is that the pharaohs from the Ptolemy dynasty were not black (or even Egyptian for that matter). Ptolemy I was a general under Alexander the Great and he was apportioned Egypt after Alexander’s death — he was Greek/Macedonian not Egyptian. The line intermarried and did not actually ever marry native Egyptians. Can we get an actress who is an exact replica of Cleopatra’s actual ethnicity to play her? Probably not, but casting a black or Egyptian actress would be just as misleading as casting a white beauty like Angelina Jolie. And, in Angelina Jolie’s defense, she does have somewhat “mysterious/sexy” looks which lends itself to the role & can definitely play “powerful female.” I think the casting is fine.
This is going to be so bad. She was HORRIBLE in Alexander!!!! She looked goregeous in the costumes and had great hair/makeup but her acting along with the accent was horrendous!!!!
And also, this is supposed to be based on the book which means Angie will have to play early 20’s (she was 21 when she met Caesar) and that is NOT convincing- I’m sorry but no
We know you don’t ‘get’ the appeal Someone, you mention it on EVERY post. Oh the irony.
If you want alluring, exotic, and age appropriate, go with Marion Cotillard or Eva Green or Zoe Saldana or, even better, an unknown (a la Vivien Leigh). Another out-of-the-box choice might be Noomi Rapace. Jolie was stunningly beautiful in Alexander, but she doesn’t look like that anymore.
Blah no. Just to the whole thing: 3D, Angelina’s horrible accents, overdone story, just no.
There were other people in the history of Egypt. And they were also interesting.
There were also other empires besides the Roman and Egyptian. They are also interesting.
Oh well.
@tracking
when those women can carry a film then OK.. but now nope
I get really annoyed by the “Egyptians were black” arguments. While Nubia is part of Egypt and was part of the former “Upper Egypt”, tomb paintings, carvings and sculptures on the tomb walls and sarcophagi make it very clear that the Kings and Queens were more Mediterranean than African looking. So, yes… in part of Egypt, the people looked (and still look) like black Africans, and in the rest of Egypt, they don’t.
@ Cheyenne – cosign. The Elizabeth movie with Cate Blanchett was wonderful, as they got Elizabeth’s look down and a lot of other facts right in the movie (first one at least).
If they could do that with the Cleopatra movie, and care more about the facts than a pretty face, it might just be a hit (well, not with everyone. but I’d love it as I’m a huge history geek. ^.^;)
I love all those people here telling them about her Greek descent, you tell it as it is girls!
@Diabla: Cleopatra died when she was 39, Angelina is 35 or so, so your comment does not make a lot of sense.
Maybe they should cast the actress who played Cleopatra in “Rome”? She embodied the not-so-attractive-but-still-incredibly-alluring factor perfectly, imo.
@Lisa: Marion Cotillard can’t carry a film? Then I suppose that Oscar she won for Best Actress was just a fluke?
People need to get over the Elizabeth film.. this movie is not going to be that kind of film at all. All the talk of Marc Anthony and when they met. Read the book. It is quite interesting.
As a woman of color I get tired of the whole Cleopatra was black..But I notice none of the African American Directors have felt so strongly about the character to make a film about her in all these years. If you want to own a character in history then make a film and cast the role the way you choose. But I bet that won’t happen.
This role belongs to Angie and no one else. She is working with the author and writer. If she wants it then it will be made. If she says no then I doubt it will be made.. If they do it with someone else then the budget will be very low. Look at Atlas Shrugged.
American audiences are not the beginning and end of a film. So that is the fact. like it or not.
@Majosha
my comment about her and the others had nothing to do with talent. It was about BO. I like her and think she is a good actress. but like it or not she has never headlined a big ticket film with her name alone. Neither have the other women. That is not an insult but a fact.
Oh well since it really doesn’t matter, I would love to see an Elizabeth remake with Angela Basset because she is a wonderful actress.
The fact is this is probably a 150 – 200 millions project.
So no project of this stature that rely entirely on the lead female is going to be done with a semi famous actress or an actress that has never carried a 100 million project ALONE successfully and GLOBALLY. Apart from Jolie, there is only julia whose name alone can drag globally people en masse to the theater on her name.
I also beleive that the 3D component is a trick to maximize profit. Jolie has now 4 movies in a row, of different genre that have reached 175 or more millions abroad. Considering that a 3D ticket is twice or thrice as more expensive, you do the math on what she could drag on this foreign market alone, a market that is bigger and more receptive to global star. A market that like those period movies, especially asian market that generates more and more profit.
Also I don’t see why people are acting like there is a perfect actress out there to be Cleopatra. Even if we knew perfectly how she was physically, it is a notorious fact that Cleopatra was fluent in no less than 9 languages.
Which actress can perfectly do that ? Also If you want to pick an egyptian, why make the movie in English to begin with ? Why not use all those languages with the semantic and rhetoric used at the time ? Good luck with that ! That’s not a movie you need, that’s a docummentary.
Another thing, even if Cleopatra was Black, i don’t see why an African American would be more suite than a black African, born and raiserd there.
Zoe is as foreigner as Jolie. She doesn’t bring any more credibility to the part and has less global power to drag people all over the world to the theater on her name.
A project as huge as this one is done around the IT actress (see previous versions) to minimize the risk of financial disaster or not done at all. That’s precisely what they have said, that it is done with Jolie or won’t be done at all.
Some iconc actor like Omar Shariff would be a good thing though.
And on a personal note, as a second generation European from both african and european background, i am tired of the constant ignorance displayed mainly by my folks in the US who really act like they are robbed of their history, their character.
You have no excuse. You have access to books, learn your history. Everyone in Africa, Black and white and indians and asians know that Cleopatra was never Black but of greek descen (Ptoleme dinasty) and even as an Arab, she wouldn’t be Black.
Everyone in Africa know that Arabs are assimilated to mediterranean (even in certain European polls they are considered as mediterranean). They have more physical similarities with southern Italians, Spaniards and Portugues….since they colonized the south of those countries at some point in History.
North Africans or Arabs as we call them in Africa and Europe to differenciate them from “Africans” which refer to the Subsaharian Bantus, Nilohotics and other melanesian folks, have a very racially oriented society. They are very sensitive about skintone and Black people there who are the minority are either migrants, descents of migrants from sub saharian countries or descents of slaves they picked up mostly in the eastern part of central africa (Zanzibar was a place where they were parked before being shipped in nothern african countries and middle east).
The nobility, middle class is more european looking, some blonds with blue eyes, included. Royalties are from the same breed and marry with each other.
And if you don’t beleive me, Wikepedia is your friend. Look at every egyptian, tunisian, algerian morrocan actress (there is even a list) or beauty queen (Miss Egypt 2009 or 2010 looks like jolie mini me !). Look at the former egyptien royalties and Princess Faiza, looking like the clone of Vivien Leigh but even more beautiful. All of them have the european look and a white skin. Some are blond and blue eyes like one of my friend whose father was the morrocan ambassador in Brussles a few years ago. You would never know that she was Morroccan and thought she was Sweedish
Black and mixed raced when rarelly in movies are portrayd as domestic in movies. Put a mixed raced or a Black actress as their leader Cleopatra, they will find it offensive and insulting because their society has been for a long time built on the lighter your skin, the better (same in Brasil) and there is no way that the nobility, let alone the royalties who married with each other would have had a Black queen. No way.
If you want a Black actress to portray an African queen or princess or noble character, try Nefertiti or better yet : Dona Beatriz, aka Kimpa Vita, our black Joan of Ark from the Kongo Kingdom who fought the Portuguese around 1595 – 1600 at 18 years of age to put an end to the slavey campaign which began in the Kongo Kingdom (actual Angola and both Congos) shipping them to Brasil for the portuguese crown, then to Cuba when the spanish entered the party, before the slavery even began in western africa with the english organising it from the Goree Island to what was becoming the US.
Now that’s a story few people know, a story of a strong female who was barely a teen, a great female who fought for justice, for the rights of her people while spreading her christian faith creating her christianized black movement. She is still reverred in some part of Brasil especially in Bahia and was canonized in the twenty century by the Pope.
She ended her life being killed by the Portuguese troops at barely 22. they caught her and burned her alive. Her movement of liberation and restoration of the most famous sub saharian Kingdom survives her a few decades, before the Portuguese crushed it and weakened the Kingdom of the until it dispapar when the European came en masse to reorganize and recoup Africa in their colonisation movement.
Again learn your history and instead of coming over and over again with Cleopatra, trying to hijack a story that is more european related than anything else, learn about Black Africa and pick the right character. After all, you have today, a country : Liberia founded by the US for african american slaves who wanted to go back to the motherland. This country that has went through years of turbulence, wars, after the decolonization has seen the first democratically elected female president of the contnent : A black, strong african woman, educated in teh US, an heroine : Helen Johnson-Sirleaf. Another one you could have portayed since she is kinda American.
Just stop being ignorant, lazy and whining. Educate yourself and stop eating up the stupid BS that directors often put out there for the community to eat up. No “Big Mama” anymore ! But instead better projects around great character from the US, diaspora(be it Europe, Carrabean, South America) or Africa. There are plenty of great female from african origin to portray.
Sorry for the long rant. I just despise recurrent ignorance, especially when it comes to history and when everyone in here has easy access to the basics since we all have internet.
i’m serouly asking… what causes those large veins?
too much working out, too little body fat, age, blood pressure, not hydrated enough? what?
thanks.
I hate and wont watch 3D movies.
Egypt is part of Africa and the people who are from there can be light skinned to dark skinned. Most have skin the color of leather. Most women have thick dark wavy hair with dark eyes.
Just like A Mighty Heart, if Angelina Jolie plays Cleopatra, this will offend most Black people and we will not see this movie.
No one knows definitively what race Cleopatra was. To claim otherwise is foolish and goes against recent historical scholarship:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/egypt/4995155/Cleopatra-had-African-ancestry-skeleton-suggests.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/also_in_the_news/7945333.stm
Angelina is so stunning (at any weight) that the only flaw people can pick on is her veins. My arms do the same thing…it’s not something anyone can control.
gnelina rocks!!! she’s the very best. she’ll do a wonderful job. i’m not sure about the 3d part….
@Cherry Rose: “Elizabeth” got the look down right, but they fudged a lot of facts. Sir William Cecil and Francis Walsingham were both young men at Elizabeth’s accession, not old and middle-aged; Cecil wasn’t put out to pasture like they said in the movie, and Lord Robert Dudley never betrayed her or converted to Catholicism because he was a hard-line Protestant.
I’m a big history geek as well and that’s why I get pissed off when they take so much license with actual facts in order to make for more drama. But at least the actors in “Elizabeth” gave some great performances.
Can’t wait to see her in this role!
Yes
Yes she is Camille but Ms Aniston is ashamed of her Greek heritage.
@Roma: I hear you – I have always been a phlebotomist’s dream.
It’s unbelievable the difference a tan can make on a person, it suits her greatly.
I’m not scared by her veins -I unfortunately have some like hers and it’s not drugs but thinness and low blood pressure…- her lips in the last pictures are awful. Can she leave them alone?
I don’t really like biopics in general, no matter who the director or the actress is, Cleopatra isn’t a good idea, and AJ is too cartoonish to be believable in that role, it would make the movie worst than that crap with Elizabeth Taylor.
As for a female director, Kathryn Bigelow is a woman for sure but she hasn’t a womanly sensibility. Jane Campion on the other hand would be a big improvement in the credibility of a movie like that, but I fear it’s not a story she would like to tell and above all she doesn’t fit HW’ standards and the box office would bomb.
But the chances of making a great movie of this story would increase with her as director…
Ps: as for AJ being miscasted because she’s not a black woman, neither Egyptians are black, not to mention that Cleopatra was Greek as some of you already said.
@crtb: Speak for yourself; you don’t speak for all or even most black people. And in case you weren’t aware, Mariane Pearl specifically requested Jolie to play her in A Mighty Heart.
@lisa: yes, she’s always had those veins. But they’re VERY prominent now. She also used to look amazing all the time. When she was thin, she never looked too thin. She looked healthy. Her hair, her skin, etc. So she looked normal. People notice her veins now because she’s a walking caricature/scarecrow. She needs help. And no, she hasn’t always been incredibly thin. There are really great pictures of her in her glory days where she’s got a muffin top (please don’t hit me, she looked just fine. Beautiful and radiant, even!). I can’t remember what event it was at, but once upon a time, years ago, she went to a premiere or an awards show wearing a champagne-colored strapless gown, and she had really short hair (can you tell I used to be a fan? Hahaha!). Her curves were all over the place. She only lost all her weight once her career started taking off. She was never “heavy” or anything. Don’t get me wrong. But she’s skeletal now.
Here’s a link to a photo of her in that gown looking noticeably more healthy/curvy. And I’m actually not sure how short her hair was, so sorry for that. I think she’s got it pulled up…
http://celebritywonder.ugo.com/picture/Angelina_Jolie/angelinajolie_084.jpg
her arms are still thin, but the veins aren’t as prominent (if at all), and obviously the rest of her isn’t wasting away.
@crtb
African-Americans are not the only Black folks in the world and their being offended is their problem, not the ones of the rest of the world, including Afro-peans, Afro-Latino, Afro- Canadians, Afro-french, Afro-arab, Afro-greek and Africans.
Marianne Pearl maybe Black by American standards but guess what, she is ABSOLUTELY not in the outside world, the world she was born in and raised in. She is a quadroon by French and African standards. So stop offending the outside world with your ignorance of other culture and different racial codes.
She is 1/4 Black (mother is a mulata from cuba and father is dutch.) Hence by european & african standards she is a quadroon. And quadroons most of the times are referred as White people who happenrd to have a parent who is mulato, but still are white. They refer themselves as such or as a ‘métisses’ (mulata)
My cousins are quadroons looking like Italians and the first time they visitted the US, going to NY, they came back and said, you know what : in the US we are Black, then when we come back at home we are White…it’s weird.
Americans should stop being arrogant by imposing their view and racial code to other people who are not even Americans to begin with. Jolie was perfectly casted because she looks like a qudroon and only some African Americans b*tch about it while NONE of the 4 millions Black people living in France did, nor, the other millions living in Europe and Africa too.
The issue in the choice of casting an actress playing a FRENCH citizen of a certain physic became and AMERICAN issue, not even a domestic one. That’s offending !
Again stop hijacking characters that don’t belong to you to begin with while imposing your culture on it.
Eventhough if she was black by your standards, an African American is still an American and would still be as miscast since she is neither an Afro-pean, neither a French citizen with african background…
Marianne is French from afro latina and dutch backgroud but FRENCH nonetheless.
So African-Americans who feel offended should have kept their cool and stop being ridiculous, not everyone Black is African-American, has to live by your racial codification and perception to be valid, everyone has ones culture, racial code, perception which is totally different.
In the same way, supermodel Adriana Lima, a brasilian quadroon is white in Brasil but would be african-american if she was born in the US, because Brasil and Latin American function more or less with the same racial codification of Europe and Africa.
The 3D idea was being talked about when James Cameron was interested in Directing. That is not going to be the case with another Director.. the film will be in
2-D…
Glad Cameron is not doing this anyway..
i love angelina but everything about this film sounds like a failure
I’d like to see Lindsay Lohan as Cleopatra- a beautiful, strong, intelligent woman. Perfect casting. Charlie Sheen could play Caeser, it would be totally rad.
Sounds like a fail, 3d, dodgy casting and most of all they need to stop remaking classic movies. There’s plenty of new scripts out there waiting to be made in to film.
@Saphfire…not sure how you’ve come to the conclusion Jennifer Aniston is ashamed of her heritage. People don’t usually discuss their heritage if they’re ashamed of it, and I’ve heard her talk about it, especially living in Greece numerous times. Amazing the rubbish people make up so they can go on hating a celeb. Hate eats away at your soul eventually.
@breana: cleopatra was black. just like the original cat woman was
*************
The original catwoman was not black, either. She was modeled after Jean Harlow. There have been incarnations of the Catowman character who have been of color, but the original Catwoman in both the comics and the television series (Julie Newmar was the first in the series and Eartha Kitt portrayed her for her last 3 appearances) were white.
Comic Book store kid, graphic novel geek. Sorry.
A quick comment on the blond blue-eyed Egyptians (and those from other countries in the region). While that is very true today, it was probably much less so back in Pharaonic times. This is probably more a legacy of the various Sultanates followed by the Ottoman rule as the Turks look as European as any Brit or German, and the Ottoman sultans who ruled over much of the Mediterranean basin habitually took Causcasian women as wives. Before that, the Bahri mamelukes were of Turkish origin and the Burji who replaced them were of Circassian origin.
Ell, let us count the ways. She never visits Greece or ever mentions Greece. She is never seen with any of her relatives, especially her half brother. She bleaches her hair and uses blue contacts. Funny how much someone can excuse to justify being a fan.
sausage party, lol 🙂
Fincher has a close relationship with Brad Pitt, but Fincher and Jolie have never worked together before. I worry that if Fincher comes on as director, he would cast Brad in a role. Ugh.
No, no, no, no, no!
@someone I think you’ll end up going just so you can yell at the screen 🙂
LOL! Mln76, I think I love you!
On the male lead…Benicio Del Toro would make an awesome Mark Antony. But I’d already be happy if I knew for sure Brad Pitt isn’t going to be anywhere near this.
She looks so beautiful in the pic from Alexander. She looked best when her face was a bit fuller and less gaunt looking.
I don’t think that movie will be a failure because the direction they take, a woman stance and a portrayal of Cleopatra VII as a commander in chief and strategic leader who would coldly kill anyone in her way, including siblings is one of those strong, complex character that are available maybe once or twice every decade for an actress.
It can be the role of a lifetime if the character is done with depth, complexity and virtuosity.
My concern, apart from the choice of the director and there i beleive Fincher is great, lies on the choice of co stars which should be attributed with a special care to details. And yes, i join those who said : NO BRAD PITT.
I hope the cast will be more international in that regard and that co star roles will be attributed to less famous but nonetheless great actors who are classically trained and work on stage, as well as to iconic figures.
Again, i can definitely see the likes of Omar Shariff, Alain Delon or Sofia Lauren having some part in it. Laurence Olivier is too old and i don’t think he is working anymore but he would have been great as an old leader. he has the stature and the charisma that goes along.
I would love also the story to focus on other facets of Cleopatra VII, Cleopatra the mother, her relations with her children, what has happened to Cleopatra Selene, her daughter, ect.
Try to render a more complex character (which she was) than the mere seductress like previous versions did.
Regarding the possible director, on IMDb (the last time I saw it) it says Paul Greengrass is going to direct *shrugs*
@ Canuck
Europeans have been crossing the mediterranean sea and pushed the bantu people more further past the Sahara for centuries.
Of course there were more bantu tribes living in the north at that times since they come from the north while Pygmeas were the main and ancient inhabitants in central to south africa.
The fact is bantus were organized as small communities, tribes and the higher social class in the nothern part were always pale/europeans.
Royals and nobles married with each other. That’s why there is no way in the world that Cleopatra was of bantu heritage.
First bantu Kingdoms and empires in the sense that we know it in the western world and who were in state to state contact with other kingdoms (including the european ones) were made around the 14th century post JC : the Luba empire, the Lunda empire, the Bakuba empire, the Kongo Kingdom to name a few.
Cleoptar’s Egypt falls into the same concept of colonisation and the creation of a great empire à la Roman Empire that crosses the physical borders of Europe to Africa which is ‘across teh street’. It’s a european entreprise in Africa with a european leader. Just like Elizabeth of England is still the official queen of many african countries, hence Commonwealth Oranisation
@Newbie Eonline did a side by side comparison between her in NOLA and her at the Golden Globes. She’s gained alot of weight they are actually speculating that she’s pregnant.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Z5H0BSW61E&feature=player_embedded
I love Angelina and I think she will deliver a great performance in 3d as Cleopatra that would be scary good. Who cares about her body? she is not a model… she is an actress but I do agree with everyone here that she needs to gain a bit more weight. She looks really skinny in the pics and the camera adds 10 lbs now imagine her in person…she has to be scary skinny in person… Let’s start a FB page “Feed Angelina”
@ nnn
Please stop pretending that an effort has not been made to change the complexion of the ancient egyptians. You regurgitating lies that were fed to you does not validate your point. Do (u.s.) americans look the same now as they did thousands of years ago?
History has been told from the view of the conquer/winner/victorious. – FACT
Anyway, I give jolie a pass b/c i like her. 😀
@nnn: Agreed on Cleo’s Eygpt being a colony in one way shape or form. Plus they have found coins with Cleopatra’s likeness on them and she was most certainly not a black African. And at the time of minting at any rate, she was also not a great beauty either. Her profile looked a bit like Queen Victoria’s actually.
http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0210200/ancient_rome/cleopatra_coin.jpg
http://maplerag.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/queen_victoria.jpg
As for the earlier Pharaohs, it’s very clear from the images of them that have survived that they were not black Africans.
@ Maria:
She looks really skinny in the pics and the camera adds 10 lbs now imagine her in person…she has to be scary skinny in person… Let’s start a FB page “Feed Angelina”
I’m on board for the campaign. I’d even spoon feed her if she wanted me to.
@ Lita;
Arsinoe was Cleo’s half sister, same father different mothers. And while males have DNA from both sets of parents females unfortunately have only maternal DNA.
I like her, but as someone who is an Egyptologist by education, leave Egyptian history alone! Cleopatra wasn’t beautiful. She was ugly as sin, very intelligent but NOT Egyptian! Anyway, I’m so tired of the Liz Taylors and the Angelina Jolies playing her. It’s not real. She wasn’t like that. I know I shouldn’t be so upset by it. It’s just a movie and not a documentary. I can’t help it though. It’s so wrong in every way that it makes me unable to “suspend my disbelief.” Make some movies about someone else. Lady Godiva. Boudicca. Joan of Arc. Anyone but my beloved Cleopatra or anyone Egyptian. You just get it wrong so stop trying.
Why doesn’t Angelina play the *life* story of Elizabeth Taylor ?
Instead of ruining something that was already done. Their lives were similar and it would be better for her to do that, to honor her instead of try to overshadow her role.
What do you think?
P.S. @ WhoamI: Boadicea would be an excellent choice if she were to play another historical role. That woman was very strong,brave…inspiring and a warrior also no one has even done that before.
Peace
I love Angelina, she is in no doubt a superbly talented actress. . . it sometimes scares me how forceful and riveting she is in dramas. To the people who say otherwise, need to fix your eyes and your ears. Not trying to offend or anything,just giving a viewpoint. But, on that vein note I wish she would gain like at least 20 pounds!! She is seriously underweight and I think she could go back to being as beautiful as she was before if she had more beat on her bones.