Stay Connected
Atlanta Black Star/Film
FilmNews

Angelina Jolie's 'Cleopatra' Repels Another Director

Posted byBy Joe Cohen | Published on: CommentsComments (0)

When it comes to Angelina Jolie’s latest film endeavor Cleopatra, directors are dropping like flies, leading some people believe that the actress’ project will never get off the ground.

David Fincher, director of Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, was the first to back away from the project. Then Sony approached Brokeback Mountain director Ang Lee, he too walked away.

Jolie has been working on this project since late 2010, and made it very clear how badly she wants to play the beautiful Egyptian, but constantly several suffered set-backs.

It’s a more common practice for studios to have a short list of directors, but for Cleopatra, the list seems to be never ending. Her project has been repelling directors like ‘Off’ does to mosquitoes. Avatar director James Cameron and Bourne Ultimatum director Paul Greengrass have join the list of uninterested directors. Both showed no interest after being sought for the job.

To add to the bad news that plagues Cleopatra, NBC is already in production with a series following Cleopatra.

Elizabeth Taylor starred in the 1963’s version of Cleopatra. A film directed by Joseph L Mankiewicz which became the most expensive movie ever made at the time. While it was a box office flop, the film did receive great reviews and won four Oscars.

Jolie is currently filming Disney’s Maleficent, in which she will star along side her daughter, Vivienne Jole-Pitt. Read more about it here.

Democracy needs journalism it can trust.

This election season, the stakes are higher than usual — and so is the pressure on newsrooms to soften their coverage, stay quiet, or just disappear. Independent reporting, the kind that answers to readers instead of advertisers or political pressure, matters more in a moment like this, not less.

For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed independent and reader-funded. We have no corporate owner and no shareholders telling us what to cover or how to cover it. That independence is also our biggest vulnerability: nothing protects it except readers choosing to fund it directly.

Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under in a moment like this, it's rarely the independent, reader-funded ones that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Give once Give monthly Support another way

Related Stories

Back to top