Martin Scorsese recalls unrealized Cleopatra film with Angelina Jolie
The director linked the project's collapse to the 2014 Sony Pictures hack and jokingly blamed Seth Rogen.
Martin Scorsese has discussed a Cleopatra film he planned to make with Angelina Jolie, saying the project fell apart following the Sony Pictures hack in 2014. Speaking with his daughter Francesca at Tribeca on October 29, he jokingly held Seth Rogen responsible, according to TheWrap.
Jolie was attached to portray Cleopatra VII. Scorsese said he had wanted to make a large-scale Roman epic but missed the opportunity, teasing that Ridley Scott had already covered the territory.
The Sony attack, carried out by a North Korean state-sponsored group, exposed company data and employee emails. It came in response to Sony's plans to distribute The Interview, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg's satire about the North Korean government. Scorsese connected the fallout to the end of his Cleopatra plans while joking about Kim Jong Un's reaction.
Rogen also co-created and stars in Apple TV's The Studio, which features Scorsese playing himself in a cameo. In that fictional storyline, Rogen's character spoils Scorsese's plans for a film about the Jonestown massacre.
