Angelina Jolie to play Rudin’s Cleopatra film

Angelina Jolie is officially attached to Scott Rudin’s Cleopatra film. Rudin, the Oscar-winning producer of No Country For Old Men and There Will Be Blood told USA Today that the role of Cleopatra is being developed “for and with Jolie,"

Rather than remake the infamously extravagant Elizabeth Taylor version, Rudin’s Cleopatra will be based off of Stacy Schiff’s biography of the Egyptian queen, “Cleopatra: A Life”. It’s also avoiding Steven Soderbergh's production plan to turn Cleopatra into a 3D musical starring Hugh Jackman and Catherine Zeta Jones.

While Rudin remained mum about details, Schiff did point out that Brad Pitt would be an obvious choice for Marc Antony, saving us internet commenters the trouble of doing so. Now we’ll just have to fall back on wondering why anyone would try to remake a film that, last time, nearly bankrupted the company that funded it, nearly killed the star, and won the unlikely honor of being the only highest-grossing film of the year to ever close at a loss.