LARA
CROFT:
The star of the Lara Croft
franchise, would have made a compelling Cleopatra. Although not that highly
rated in the film world, we enjoyed Angelina Jolie as the Tomb Raider
character brought to life on celluloid. Incorrect casting spoiled the follow
on movie starring Alicia Vikander in the 2018 rendition. Alicia is an
actress scoring well in Ex Machina and Jason Bourne, but did not have the
grunt the Croft role needs, nor the build to carry the part off - in our
view. Angelina, may have outshone Elizabeth Taylor, if playing
against someone more the part than Richard Burton, with his monotonic voice, who was simply not beefy
enough to suspend our disbelief. But Liz oozed pure sex on the screen -hard
to rival. Imagine that with today's CGI backgrounds and action sequences.
The
first Cleopatra movie was made in 1917. It was silent and
most unfortunately, no
known prints of the William Fox film survive.
The
second movie starred Elizabeth
Taylor, with good initial box office, but ultimately a
studio flop, made in 1963.
Small
wonder then, that with such a lavish setting, studios are
fighting shy of the idea. Tempting though it may be, except
that with CGI being so advanced, it may be possible to make
this film and come out on top money wise. Risky, if just a
re-make, relying on modern production techniques to get them
out of trouble. But then, it is their money. With around
5,000 movies being made a year, and only 10 shining
brightly, there will be 4,990 also-rans. A startling
statistic. How then does Hollywood survive? Well, there is
network television. Where the large volume of media
entertainment may be aired to fill the void. The void being
the insatiable public appetite for something to watch, while
being sold yet more entertainment and other products. That
is why TV series are called soaps. Because they were
designed as the carry for television advertising.
DISCOVER HUBPAGES 14 APRIL 2021 - WILL ANGELINA JOLIE PLAY CLEOPATRA?
Angelina Jolie will Play Cleopatra VII in the Upcoming Movie
According to Discover Hubpages, Sony Studios has a new rendition of Cleopatra
currently in production, with Angelina Jolie slated to play the historic queen. Currently not much is known about this upcoming movie.
The movie is based on Stacy Schiff's novel Cleopatra: a Life, with Brian Helgeland and David Scarpa writing the screenplay.
Denis Villeneuve will direct the film, and Scott Rudin will produce.
This movie began as a passion project for Angelina Jolie and was originally slated to be delivered in 2013. However, after multiple setbacks, the movie is now back on track.
There have been rumors that Lady Gaga could play Cleopatra as well, however that may just be based on wishful thinking from some of Gaga's fans.
Could Lady Gaga Play Cleopatra instead?
The Hollywood rumor mill has suggested that Lady Gaga may be Jolie's main competitor for the role of Cleopatra. It appears that they have both been in talks with Sony executives in regards to playing Elizabeth Taylor's coveted part.
What Kind of Movie will the New Cleopatra Be?
This movie will take a unique perspective compared to previous versions. It will be in a political thriller instead of an epic romantic film, and will focus on how Cleopatra was an educated powerful and tactical woman, and not focus on rumors of promiscuity.
The story will focus on the rising political power of Cleopatra VII and will have a feel closer to Games of Thrones than the original romantic fairy tale that has been the style in past productions. This movie is supposed to be bloody, and dirty, and dramatic.
Previous Cleopatra movies include:
- A 1963 movie with Liz Taylor
- A 1917 American silent historical drama with Theda Bara
- A 1972 adaption of Shakespeare's play Antony and Cleopatra with Hildegard Neil as Cleopatra
- A 1999 miniseries based Margaret George's 1997 historical fiction novel
SUGGEST
17 DECEMBER 2020 - Angelina Jolie ‘Livid’ With
Gal Gadot Over ‘Cleopatra’ Role?
A tabloid reported that Jolie felt like Gadot had ruined her “dream” of playing the legendary Egyptian queen. Gossip Cop looked into the report and can add our own insight.
Angelina Jolie Versus Gal Gadot?
The National Enquirer claimed Angelina Jolie was bent way out of shape over the news that Wonder Woman star Gal Gadot had been tapped to play Cleopatra in an upcoming film directed by Patty Jenkins, who also helmed Wonder Woman. Jolie, the tabloid posited, was positively “livid” that Gadot had swooped in underneath her and “stolen” the iconic role that Elizabeth Taylor had made famous.
“Angie’s dream was to play Cleopatra, the role that made Elizabeth Taylor an icon,” a source revealed. Jolie has been attached to a Cleopatra movie for nearly 10 years now, and has spoken over the years about her desire to play the Egyptian ruler. All those years have now gone to waste, the source told the tabloid, and Jolie knows just who to blame.
It was going to be the part that won Angie an Academy Award for Best Actress, and now that’s over thanks to Gal, who will be playing the Queen of the Nile instead.
“Angie is insulted and upset,” the source continued. “She feels she was born to play Cleopatra and it was no secret that she’d been working on the script and meeting with top directors for the project for years.” All that bitterness and resentment has allegedly found itself a target in Gal Gadot, the tipster ominously concluded.
Let’s just say Gal better not run into Angelina any time soon without a Roman general like
Mark Antony to protect her!
How very convenient for the tabloid that the person Angelina Jolie was supposedly so “livid” with was also an A-list actress. The story would have been a bit harder to sell if the target of Jolie’s ire had been someone relatively less well-known, like the upcoming Cleopatra film’s director, Patty Jenkins. Though it can be argued that she’s just as guilty of “stealing” the Cleopatra film as Gal Gadot, the outlet strangely chose not to mention her at all.
It’s likely a huge disappointment to Jolie that her Cleopatra film never got its day in the sun, but it seems very unrealistic that she’d be furious with Gal Gadot of all people over it. Jolie has been trying to get her film off the ground for almost a decade now, and a lot has changed in Jolie’s life since she first confirmed she wanted to play the Queen of the Nile. Besides, there can be more than one Cleopatra movie, which means Jolie still has a shot at the iconic role. This outlet probably just wanted to exploit the new film’s announcement in order to entice readers. This is far from the first time a tabloid has used Jolie’s well-publicized desire to play Cleopatra as evidence of a feud between herself and another A-list celebrity.
Last year, two of the Enquirer’s sister outlets, OK! and Star, both claimed Jolie was battling with
Lady Gaga after rumors emerged that the A Star Is Born actress was in the running to star as
Cleopatra. The latter publication later insisted that Bradley Cooper would star in the film as well. Both accounts were entirely false, Gossip Cop found. Clearly, tabloids aren’t the place to go for casting news.
EMPIRE ONLINE 7 APRIL 2016
Last we heard of Angelina Jolie's mooted Cleopatra, a whole three years ago, Ang Lee was considering joining the film as director. That never happened, and the rest was more-or-less silence. You might have assumed the project had quietly died a death, but this morning it turns out the long development is still chugging along with a new screenwriter attempting to crack the material. The
latest draft of the script will be by David Scarpa.
Cleopatra has been the target of at least three directors’ affections in the past, with Paul Greengrass, James Cameron and, most famously, David Fincher all considering the idea. Nobody is currently occupying the chair. Scott Rudin and Amy Pascal remain attached as producers, which may come as a surprise post-the Sony hack that revealed a caustic correspondence between them about the film.
This version of the Cleopatra story is based on the best
selling Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff. The intended thrust of the adaptation is to ditch the pageantry and pomp of the famously
disastrous Elizabeth Taylor epic, and concentrate instead on Cleopatra the power-hungry tactician. Scarpa's last produced screenplay was for Scott Derrickson's remake of The Day The Earth Stood Still, but intriguingly he's also been at work on a film about the assassination of Alexander Litvinenko, so he clearly has an eye for a political conspiracy. His as-yet unmade script for kidnap thriller All The Money In The World made the buzzy Black List last year.
Cleopatra wouldn't be Jolie's first powerful woman of the ancient world, having played Colin Farrell's apparently Russian-accented mom Olympias in Oliver Stone's Alexander. But in the wake of the whitewash controversies surrounding the likes of Exodus: Gods And Kings and Gods Of Egypt, her ethnic suitability to play the Egyptian queen will be more under scrutiny than ever. Should Cleopatra ever actually go before the cameras.
by Owen Williams
REFERENCE
https://discover.hubpages.com/entertainment/Angelina-Jolie-as-Cleopatra
https://www.empireonline.com/movies/news/angelina-jolie-cleopatra-new-writer/
https://www.suggest.com/angelina-jolie-livid-with-gal-gadot-over-cleopatra-role/708/
CLEOPATRA
THE MUMMY - UNDER DEVELOPMENT
'Cleopatra's
Mummy' is one of a trilogy in the John Storm
franchise of
ocean awareness adventures, featuring the incredible solar
and hydrogen powered trimaran: Elizabeth
Swann. 'Cleopatra The Mummy,' the prequel to 'Kulo-Luna,'
or Treasure Island.
The order of production could be to suit identified gaps in
entertainment, in any particular year. Equally, the trilogy,
could be adapted for network television. An example of which
is Blood
and Treasure.
