Angelina Jolie has been a star in the film industry for the vast majority of her life. The actress has appeared in a plethora of films with diverse and well-written roles that would leave a lasting impact in the memories of its viewers, and some of the most iconic roles that she has ever portrayed. From the role of Lisa Rowe in Girl, Interrupted to being the evil fairy witch, Maleficent, she gained immense praise from fans and critics alike, praising her acting range.
The most talked about role of the Eternals actress is that of Cleopatra, which she was extremely close to portraying. However, the film got canceled. Now, Zendaya is set to portray the Egyptian Queen, and Brian Helgeland, the original scriptwriter of the canceled Cleopatra movie, hopes Denis Villeneuve uses his script.
Scriptwriter of Cleopatra Shares How The Film Featuring Angelina Jolie Was Almost Made
For a long time, it was assumed that Angelina Jolie would play the biggest role of her career-Cleopatra. However, the long-gestated movie never became a reality, despite the script being almost made. Brian Helgeland, who wrote the script, sat down with Inverse to share more details on how the film got scrapped.
During the interview, Helgeland was asked if he is associated with Denis Villeneuve for his Cleopatra project. The writer shared how he was the very first writer on the Cleopatra film that was intended to be made for Angelina Jolie, and he is not associated with Villeneuve, unless he is interested in using his film’s draft. He said,
“I was the very first writer on Cleopatra when it was being developed for Angelina Jolie to star in, which was almost made. I don’t have anything to do with the current version unless they call me and want to use my draft.”
Helgeland also shared some details from his script, stating how his film features “elements of a political thriller with assassinations and s*x.” However, it is divided featuring a lot of key events from the historic figure’s lifetime.
“It had elements of a political thriller with assassinations and s*x, but it’s an epic that’s divided between her love affairs with Caesar and Marc Antony. Lots of true events surprised me when I was writing it. For example, the day Caesar was assassinated — the Ides of March and all that stuff — she was in Rome. They were leaving for Egypt, and the reason why they had to kill him at that time was because he was headed out of town with her. That’s historically true and featured in the script.”
He added, that she was a cunning figure and knew how to utilize people for her personal gains, and gave the example of Marc Antony’s speech.
“She writes Marc Antony’s speech — “friends, Romans, countrymen” — because he doesn’t know what to say, but she tells him what to say. It’s sort of her way of saying “f**k you” to those guys because she’s smart enough and he’s not. I have no idea if that script is being used, but I’ll be very happy if it is.”
Nevertheless, it still remains a mystery which script Villeneuve would use for his film, but the Dune filmmaker has been planning to make the historical epic project for quite some time.
Zendaya Faces Backlash From Fans Over The Portrayal of The Historical Figure
It seems that Zendaya will be working with the Blade Runner 2049 filmmaker as she has starred in his smash-hit blockbuster projects, Dune and Dune 2. The director is quite excited as he sits down with TVA, sharing how he has been working on the historical epic for quite some time.
He said in the now-deleted interview,
“I also have a historical film project on the life of Cleopatra. This project is underway and it excites me a lot. I hope I can bring it to the screen before or after filming the second part of Dune.”
The film is also reported to feature her Dune co-star Timothée Chalamet as Octavius and Daniel Craig as Caesar if the two of them accept the offer. The film’s production is expected to begin in 2024, with no official release date.
