The director of "Blade Runner 2049" and "Arrival" is in line to direct a film about 1st century Egyptian queen Cleopatra.
Canadian director Denis Villeneuve could be going from sci-fi to ancient history, after it emerged that he is in talks with Sony Pictures over epic movie project "Cleopatra."
Sony is understood to have approached a clutch of award-winning, blockbuster directors about adapting Cleopatra's story, such as "Avatar" and "Titanic" director James Cameron, David Fincher of "The Social Network" and "House of Cards," Ang Lee ("Brokeback Mountain," "Hulk,") and Paul Greengrass ("Jason Bourne").
Now it seems that Villeneuve is favorite to take the helm, according to a new report from Deadline.
The movie would be based on Stacy Schiff's acclaimed 2010 bestseller "Cleopatra: A Life," and several scriptwriters have already been tasked with converting it into screenplay format.
David Scarpa wrote up Ridley Scott's December 2017 billionaire heir kidnapping thriller "All The Money In The World," Eric Roth has been credited with a clutch of Oscar-nominated screenplays, including eventual winner "Forrest Gump" as well as "House of Cards," while Brian Helgeland has "Mystic River," "Green Zone" and "L.A. Confidential" to his name.
Who's to star? Well, Angelina Jolie has been associated with the adaptation since discussions emerged in 2010.
In the intervening years her own directorial career has been taking off, writing and directing 2011's feature film debut "In the Land of Blood and Honey" as well as September 2017's Cambodian human rights biopic "First They Killed My Father," steering romantic drama "By the Sea," in which she co-starred, and wartime survival movie "Unbroken."
She's remained part of the voice cast for the "Kung Fu Panda" movies and, after starring in the US$758 million success of 2014 live-action fairy tale retelling "Maleficient," has a sequel set for 2018.
So whether she stays involved remains to be seen.
Villeneuve's "Blade Runner 2049" is gearing up for general international release the week of October 6.
