Now admit it - we all knew this was bound to happen: Angelina Jolie is planning to take the Egyptian throne. It appears that producer Scott Rudin has bought the rights on the new Cleopatra biography, "Cleopatra: A Life" by Stacy Schiff, and he wants to adapt it into an epic with Angelina. And as far as I got it from the news and rumors the whole project is focused exclusively on miss Jolie as the lead star.
As you already know, the most famous Cleopatra on the big screen was Elizabeth Taylor who starred in the 1963 "Cleopatra", the biggest box-office flop in history, while Angelina Jolie already proved that she can get all imperial and royal as queen Olympia in "Alexander", another huge flop. At the beginning of this decade there were even some plans for Angelina to portray the famous Russian queen Catherine the Great, who was also portrayed by stunning Catherine Zeta Jones in the popular mini series on the Russian ruler back in the 90's.
Well I hope that it's not a flop...but maybe I'd go see it for Angelina anyways...
ReplyDeletewell, it could be a flop considering the fact that female stars don't really attract audiences to cinemas as much as their male colleagues.
ReplyDeleteWell hopefully it's good, but there's no doubt Jolie will be looking hot in a Cleopatra getup, as you've mentioned Alexander was proof of that.
ReplyDeleteWow, talk about perfect casting. She no doubt would look super sultry in Cleopatra getup. She might actually a better fit than Zeta Jones though she's not a bad choice, either.
ReplyDelete@Answer and RTM
ReplyDeletewell, I told y'a it was kinda natural and we've all expected this to happen sooner or later :)
OFF TOPIC - I'd like to see Zeta Jones as Wonder Woman :)
I can't say I'm a great fan of Angelina's but I admit she would look good as Cleopatra.
ReplyDeleteInteresting ... could be hot, could be not. CZJ would make an excellent WW in her invisible heli BTW.
ReplyDelete@Dezmond - Kate Beckinsale is my Wonder Woman choice. Jennifer Love Hewitt is also rallying for the role, which would be interesting. Physically I could see her as Wonder Woman, but Jennifer Love in a comic book action film still doesn't look right.
ReplyDeleteFor my class on Gender in Ancient Egypt, I led a seminar on Ancient Egypt portrayed in cinema, I wish I'd had this to use too. This isn't going to be a good movie, unless all you're after is ogling Jolie for 2 hours (nothing wrong with that in itself, but I'd like a little more substance). Historial epics don't really do all that well anyway these days, and trying to revive the Cleo story isn't going to do the genre any favours. I'd put more stock into Will Smith's The Last Pharaoh.
ReplyDeleteNo one knows exactly how stunningly beautiful Cleopatra was, right? It's just a legend. But Angelina's jaw-dropping beauty certainly isn't just a legend, it's a fact. She's our Modern-Day Cleopatra and, as you say, this was bound to happen :)
ReplyDelete@Mulubinba
ReplyDeleteyes, I think most of us imagine Cleopatra in our mind eye looking exactly as Angelina.
@Matt
yep, anything invisible on CZJ would look stunning :))
@Answer
I must admit I find both of them too expressionless and cold for big and huge roles which demand an abundance of charisma. Love Hewitt is good in small TV roles, although I must say I'm always shocked by the quantity of make-up they put on her in each episode of the GHOST WHISPERER.
@Jamie
ReplyDeleteyes, I'm not overly optimistic about this one just like you, it seems Angelina could bring in just the looks, but we shall wait and see. And when it comes to LAST PHARAOH, I'm not sure anymore that it will ever get made, since they've been announcing it for ten years now and preproduction never really begun. I'd prefer to see Vin Diesel as Hannibal Barca first :)
@Neb
we can ask Jamie above, since he studied history, but as far as I know, the real Cleopatra wasn't an attractive woman, and her face on ancient coins depicts a woman with huge nose and ugly face :) I guess the cult of her beauty is just an imaginary legend.
As soon as I saw this headline I thought of Elizabeth Taylor's version of this. I think it was on TCM a few years ago & I didn't have the time to sit through it. However, this may do well if they get someone hot to play Marc Anthony. Maybe Brad can do it...
ReplyDeleteyes, Lisa, Taylor's CLEOPATRA was rather long and rather boring, focused almost solely on her and Richard Burton. That's why I wouldn't like seeing Brad in this.
ReplyDeleteI loved Catherine Zeta Jones in that mini-series!!
ReplyDeleteI would be more excited about Angelina Jolie playing Cleopatra, if she wasn't so skinny nowadays. Now her ten years ago playing Cleopatra...Hot. Ness.
If they want the perfect Mark Antony, they need look no further than James Purefoy, who OWNED the role in HBO's "Rome" series. I'd love to see James and AJ on screen together. James was smoking hot as Antony, and selfishly I'd love to see him baring his, er, soul on the big screen.
ReplyDeleteOh, yes, Purefoy was really amazing in ROME, and he had such a stunning chemistry with Polly Walker or Atia. And, admittedly, he was baring quite a lot in ROME :))
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid Zeta Jones is too old for Wonder Woman nowadays, Dezz. But she would've been a great choice a decade ago.
ReplyDeleteI don't mind Angelina in a role of Cleopatra. But I more interested in a script, and supporting roles for that movie.
she still looks stunning and young enough, Bels, as you can see above in my latest post :))
ReplyDelete