It’s impossible to say who is on a more challenging wave: Brian Helgeland or Angelina Jolie. The actress is due to her personal fight with her ex-husband, which has been dragging on outside of the scenes. On-screen, Angelina hasn’t starred in a hit for almost 10 years. And Brian, well, the screenwriter made news this week when his Game of Thrones spin-off project, the anticipated 10,000 Ships, was shelved along with Snow by MAX.
If that blow wasn’t enough, this week another piece of news came: Cleopatra, Angelina’s beloved project of over 15 years, has been officially shelved. Who was working on the script? Correct: Brian Helgeland. In other words, two of the biggest projects that would have been signed were victims of the growing wave of cancellations. It wasn’t a very good week for Brian.
Does the curse of the pharaohs include Cleopatra?
The Queen of Egypt has been the subject of many discussions in recent years and at the heart of all the controversy is the issue of cultural appropriation and a white, blue-eyed American is no longer seen as a potential actress for the role, with or without an Oscar.
At the end of the project, some details came to light. Brian Helgeland, who won an Oscar for the screenplay for L.A. Confidential in 1998, had been working on Cleopatra since 2011. David Fincher was directing, but apart from Angelina, no one else was announced. As he commented in an interview, the film would be epic, obviously showing the queen’s romances with Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, and that “it had elements of a political thriller with murders and sex”. Part of this part would show the murder of Julius Caesar as a way to prevent him from returning to Egypt with Cleopatra and her son.
Of all the films that wanted to return to the Egyptian Queen, only Gal Gadot‘s is still under consideration, but, with the likely merger of Universal and Paramount, it is also at risk of being filmed. Director Patty Jenkins has already left, having been replaced by Keri Skogland.
Apparently, the only one who will be able to achieve anything is director Denis Villeneuve, who is also developing a project because he also wants to decipher the enigma of creating a film that everyone will actually like. Villeneuve is developing the story with 1917 screenwriter Krysty Wilson-Cairns. That’s because he started recently and isn’t prioritizing the film, because he has Dune: Part Three before that.
I don’t know, I think Tutankhamun’s curse applies to Cleopatra: better left alone. And Angelina? Well, she’s here with her eyes on her second Oscar. Yes, the biopic about Maria Callas can regain its prestige. It’s my bet!
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