In
the same week when the demise of the legendary
Elizabeth Taylor seems to make producer
Paul Rudins desire to make a film about the life of
Cleopatra seem even more like terrible folly, the project is now being linked with its third big name director,
David Fincher. Rudin had previously pursued James Cameron, the Genghis Khan of 3D cinema, to helm the lavish spectacle until he was lured into making what will no doubt be another painfully lucrative Avatar film while his proposed successor, Paul Greengrass, turned down the opportunity to direct the Martin Luther King drama Memphis. But now,
Deadline reports that meetings have taken place between Rudin and Fincher and it's clear Sony hope he is the man to direct.
Angelina Jolie has the unenviable task of emulating Taylor in what Rudin, somewhat disingenuously, describes as a politicized version of the Cleopatra life story, claiming that previous film incantations have been focussed upon her as a seductress. Based on Stacy Schiff's 2010 released autobiography
Cleopatra: A Life - Rudin's new movie has been adapted for the screen by
Brian Helgeland (Robin Hood) and will be told exclusively as a Cleopatra character piece, focusing on the politician as much as the seducer. But whether they are able to secure Fincher to direct the project at all will largely be down to whether he directs any sequels to his current project- a Hollywood remake of
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, also produced by Rubin & released by Sony- and two others he has yet to make concrete plans for:
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea at Disney and
Rendezvous with Rama (from the novel by Arthur C Clarke) which, although forever attached to Morgan Freeman, does not yet have a completed script. Rudin and Fincher of course made the financial, critical and awards success The Social Network at Sony, so Fincher is enjoying the kind of power he's never had previously and whether he makes The Girl Who Played With Fire or Cleopatra next, Sony will bend over backwards to please him. And yes... if Fincher comes on board, we'd imagine his good friend and Fight Club, Se7en and Curious Case of Benjamin Button actor
Brad Pitt would follow in the role of Marc Anthony, a very surreal modern day take on the 60's on and off screen pairing Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.
