Rachel Weisz returns to Egypt!
Of course it's not for THE MUMMY. She's done with that. Instead it's AGORA, an Ancient Egyptian set movie from Spanish maestro director Alejandro Amenabar which begins filming on Monday.
The awesome Rachel Weisz who wisely didn't want to touch The Mummy 3 with a barge pole is returning to Ancient Egypt after all, for the epic movie Agora says Variety. The film is from Spanish maestro Alejandro Amenabar, the brilliant helmer of Open Your Eyes (the original mind-bending thriller which got a Hollywood remake as Vanilla Sky), The Sea Within and The Others, possibly the best period horror film for decades.
Set in Roman Egypt in the fourth century A.D. Weisz plays astrologer-philosopher Hypatia of Alexandria, who fights to save the collected wisdom of the ancient world. Her slave Davus (Minghella) is torn between his love for his mistress and the possibility of gaining his freedom by joining the rising tide of Christianity.Minghella refers to Max Minghella, the 22 year old English actor who appeared in Syriana and has a large role in the upcoming British drama Hippie Hippie Shake. The dude was 13 when Weisz burst onto the scene in The Mummy. Nine years later he goes to Egypt and will likely get a love scene with the ultra hot Weisz, the god damn lucky son of a bitch! I really like the work of Amenabar, a guy who remarkably seems to be growing with each film he works on. Weisz is one of the best around. This has suddenly become a movie I just can't wait to see. I hope it's epic... as epic as frikkin' Cleoptra. We haven't really had that period set epic Egyptian movie so for long, though with Amenabar it will almost certainly be a much more grounded dramatic character piece. Principal photography will begin in Monday in Malta for a Madrid based production company.