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Denis Villeneuve in talks to direct Cleopatra for Sony Pictures

Yeah the argument is that french Egyptomaiac artists of the 19th century post Napoleon African campaigns are the ones that came up with the idea of her being a beauty queen as we pictured her in the 20th century.
 

Lunaray

Member
I'm not sure any adaptation of Dune is going to be any good, unless they split it into multiple movies.

I'd much rather see a movie adaptation of The Forever War.
 

pa22word

Member
I saw something on the history channel where they were talking about how she was actually considered kinda ugly, and that she relied on intellect and charisma to get guys to bang her.

A lot of the typical Cleopatra tropes you hear of come out of Augustus' local propaganda campaign to the Roman people. The whole foreign, exotic seductress corrupting the Roman War Hero Antony who for his own good needed to be put out of his own misery was part of an attempt to turn the mob to Augustus' side. In reality, culturally she probably wasn't much different from the already pretty Hellenized Roman society at that point.
 

Ether_Snake

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Ugly and a major dick sucker or not historically accurate.
 

Boem

Member
Monica Belucci already was the definitive Cleopatra in 2002's Mission Cléopâtre though.

1b6ad8ca56f4a655d8974c151e3b0311.jpg
 
I saw something on the history channel where they were talking about how she was actually considered kinda ugly, and that she relied on intellect and charisma to get guys to bang her.

She has to be decent looking to seduce Mark Antony. I mean Caesar will bang an ugly chick for her royal lineage but not Mark Antony.
 
I've no real interest in Dune or Cleopatra. So I kinda hope he just picks something different.


I wouldn't mind him doing a period piece . . . but not something with Sony and not something with such a history behind it. You don't want to be the remake guy, Dennis.
 
A lot of the typical Cleopatra tropes you hear of come out of Augustus' local propaganda campaign to the Roman people. The whole foreign, exotic seductress corrupting the Roman War Hero Antony who for his own good needed to be put out of his own misery was part of an attempt to turn the mob to Augustus' side. In reality, culturally she probably wasn't much different from the already pretty Hellenized Roman society at that point.

So she was average looking then?

She has to be decent looking to seduce Mark Antony. I mean Caesar will bang an ugly chick for her royal lineage but not Mark Antony.

Maybe she had a bangin body haha

On top of being smart and charismatic.
 

Vire

Member
Why limit yourself to be a remake guy? This dude obviously has talent, just do something new and fresh.
 

Ether_Snake

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that Villeneuve, he's so hot right now. I think he's attached to do everything. There's a story on the front page about some anime he's doing as well.

You know he'll get some Star Wars flick.

I keep hearing this, and I must ask: why in the world does this have to be a remake? The fun thing about Ancient History is that there's about a million and one directions you can take it in because of the many gaps there are or the information we do have is wildly tainted by the perspective of the people writing it.

If they give him a blank check dude can essentially do whatever the hell he wants with the story.

Yes. This will be an intense character-focused drama set entirely on one set, filmed in a one-take-like style, covering the three hours leading up to Cleopatra's coronation!
 

pa22word

Member
Why limit yourself to be a remake guy? This dude obviously has talent, just do something new and fresh.

I keep hearing this, and I must ask: why in the world does this have to be a remake? The fun thing about Ancient History is that there's about a million and one directions you can take it in because of the many gaps there are or the information we do have is wildly tainted by the perspective of the people writing it.

If they give him a blank check dude can essentially do whatever the hell he wants with the story.
 

Kinyou

Member
The summary of the biography might give some idea of what tone is to be expected

Her palace shimmered with onyx and gold, but was richer still in political and sexual intrigue. Above all else, Cleopatra was a shrewd strategist and an ingenious negotiator. Though her life spanned fewer than forty years, it reshaped the contours of the ancient world.

She was married twice, each time to a brother. She waged a brutal civil war against the first when both were teenagers. She poisoned the second. Ultimately she dispensed with an ambitious sister as well; incest and assassination were family specialties. Cleopatra appears to have had sex with only two men. They happen, however, to have been Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, two of the most prominent Romans of the day. Both were married to other women. Cleopatra had a son with Caesar and—after his murder—three more with his protégé. Already she was the wealthiest ruler in the Mediterranean; the relationship with Antony confirmed her status as the most influential woman of the age. The two would together attempt to forge a new empire, in an alliance that spelled their ends. Cleopatra has lodged herself in our imaginations ever since.

Famous long before she was notorious, Cleopatra has gone down in history for all the wrong reasons. Shakespeare and Shaw put words in her mouth. Michelangelo, Tiepolo, and Elizabeth Taylor put a face to her name. Along the way the supple personality has been lost. In a masterly return to the classical sources, Stacy Schiff here boldly separates fact from fiction to rescue the magnetic queen whose death ushered in a new world order a generation before the birth of Christ. Rich in detail, epic in scope, Schiff's is a luminous, deeply original reconstruction of a dazzling life.
 

jett

D-Member
SURELY he's not passing on Dune to make this.

Although I wouldn't mind a quality period piece, we don't really get much of those.

Sure.

After he does Star Wars and Dune and Foundation and Hyperion.

This man is too good for Star Wars.
 

CloudWolf

Member
But seriously, should an Arab or a Greek play her?

Greek-looking, Cleopatra came from a line of Greek rulers.

Rome pretty much nailed her look IMO:

Cleopatra-Rome_%28TV_series%29.jpg


Ugly and a major dick sucker or not historically accurate.

That's more than likely not accurate though. That's what the Romans wrote about her and Romans generally hated Cleopatra for seducing Caesar and Mark Anthony, of course they would write that Cleopatra was a whore who fucked every single legionnaire stationed in Egypt.
 
Just wait until after Blade Runner comes out...this guy is gonna be HUGE! I mean, like Christopher Nolan and James Cameron had a baby together HUGE!
 

Busty

Banned
Guys, Dune was never going to be Denis next film and given how perilous Legendary seems to be after the fall out at Wanda I'd say that the whole thing is up in the air.

Not that I think he'll actually do Cleopatra at Sony to either.
 
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