Angelina Jolie's Cleopatra Project May Have Found A Writer

Angelina Jolie Eternals trailer screenshot
(Image credit: Disney)

The last time David Fincher and Eric Roth worked together the result was The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, a film that went on to be nominated for 13 Academy Awards - of which is won three - and earn over $300 million at the global box office. Now it's possible that the two will reunite, and, funny enough, it might be with Brad Pitt's spouse.

According to Variety, Roth has entered talks to write the script for Cleopatra, which is set to star Angelina Jolie and has David Fincher circling. The project was originally developed with a script by Brian Helgeland, who wrote the Oscar winning script for L.A. Confidential, based on the book "Cleopatra: A Life," by Stacy Schiff (the fate of that script isn't mentioned). The trade says that the movie will be told from a "woman's perspective" (honestly, I'm not 100% sure what that means) and will look at Cleopatra for her lesser-known skills as a talented strategist. Back in May, Jolie was quoted as saying that the project will take a more factual look at the Egyptian queen.

Roth has a long history of writing movies with an epic scope, so this should be an interesting fit for him. The real question surrounding the project is if, in fact, Fincher will commit to helming it. There's been talk about the filmmaker directing Cleopatra since March, but a deal has yet to be made. Perhaps they are just waiting to see the results of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.

Eric Eisenberg
Assistant Managing Editor

Eric Eisenberg is the Assistant Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. After graduating Boston University and earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism, he took a part-time job as a staff writer for CinemaBlend, and after six months was offered the opportunity to move to Los Angeles and take on a newly created West Coast Editor position. Over a decade later, he's continuing to advance his interests and expertise. In addition to conducting filmmaker interviews and contributing to the news and feature content of the site, Eric also oversees the Movie Reviews section, writes the the weekend box office report (published Sundays), and is the site's resident Stephen King expert. He has two King-related columns.