Kicking around in Hollywood for far too long now is the historical epic Cleopatra, which is also a passion project for Angelina Jolie. Many directors have taken a look at the film, most notably David Fincher and James Cameron, but so far, no one has attached themselves to it. Back in August, Fincher departed and when he did, another interesting name sat up and took notice: Ang Lee.
Speaking to THR, the director said that he is getting ready to take a look at the script and that it seems like the perfect project.
”I’m about to read the script,” Lee said at the Palm Springs International Film Festival Gala. “It just feels right to me after all the other types of films I’ve done. What does it have in common with any of them? They’re all totally different! That’s what makes this perfect.”
Though we don’t know much about the film, producer Scott Rudin gave us a brief outline back when Fincher was attached. Check out what he had to say below.
“It is a completely revisionist Cleopatra, a much more grown-up sophisticated version. She’s not a sex kitten, she’s a politician, strategist, warrior. In the Joseph Mankiewicz movie, Elizabeth Taylor is a seductress, but the histories of Cleopatra have been written by men. This is the first to be written by a woman. It felt like such a blow-the-doors-off-the-hinges idea of how to tell it, impossible to resist.”
Ang Lee is as good a filmmaker as any. With Life of Pi earning him a DGA nomination, and likely an Oscar nod too, the director is certainly hot right now. He’s known for being pretty diverse with his genre pickings and his artistic ambition would be well suited for a film like this, which is a wildly ambitious project.
What do you think? Should Ang Lee pick up the reigns from David Fincher and direct Cleopatra?
