Denis Villeneuve May Take The Throne For ‘Cleopatra’

An opulent, dramatic tale set against the backdrop of the swirling desert during the time of the Roman Empire, it’s easy to see why Hollywood has been obsessed with “Cleopatra.” Joseph L. Mankiewicz nearly bankrupted 20th Century Fox making his 1963 movie starring Elizabeth Taylor, but that hasn’t dampened modern ambitions. At one time, Steven Soderbergh was trying to launch a musical version of the story starring Catherine Zeta-Jones but didn’t really get anywhere. More promising was the brewing project that would’ve seen David Fincher direct Angelina Jolie in an adaptation of Stacy Schiff‘s “Cleopatra: A Life,” but he eventually left, over what appeared to be creative differences with the project. That was five years ago, and Sony has been looking for a director ever since. Now they may have found their man.

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Riding high off fantastic buzz for “Blade Runner 2049,” the unstoppable Denis Villeneuve is now in discussions for “Cleopatra.” The director is in an enviable position at the moment, already attached to direct his dream project “Dune,” and Daniel Craig wants him for the next James Bond movie. It’ll be interesting to see what Villeneuve chooses next, but he’s certainly shown a preference for shifting gears from movie to movie, and the chance to do a big, epic sword ‘ sandals style movie might be too good to pass up. According to Deadline, 007 is off the table, and Villeneuve would work on “Cleopatra” while making “Dune.”

“Cleopatra” sits in good shape at the moment with a script by penned a trio of powerhouse writers in David Scarpa, Eric Roth and Brian Helgeland, however, a lead actress needs to be found (it’s not clear if Jolie is still attached or involved). Here’s the book synopsis:

Her palace shimmered with onyx and gold but was richer still in political and sexual intrigue. Above all else, Cleopatra was a shrewd strategist and an ingenious negotiator. She was married twice, each time to a brother. She waged a brutal civil war against the first and poisoned the second; incest and assassination were family specialties. She had children by Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, two of the most prominent Romans of the day. With Antony she would attempt to forge a new empire, in an alliance that spelled both their ends. Famous long before she was notorious, Cleopatra has gone down in history for all the wrong reasons. Her supple personality and the drama of her circumstances have been lost. In a masterly return to the classical sources, Stacy Schiff boldly separates fact from fiction to rescue the magnetic queen whose death ushered in a new world order.

We’re sure the weeks ahead will see more hot scripts land in Villeneuve’s lap, and we couldn’t be more excited for this filmmaker to become the hottest name in town. [Deadline]