Martin Scorsese blames Seth Rogan for his canceled ‘Cleopatra’ movie with Angelina Jolie

Martin Scorsese has claimed that Seth Rogen’s film ‘The Interview’ has cost him a film with Angelina Jolie called ‘Cleopatra.’ The director spoke to his daughter Francesca Scorsese in a nearly 40-minute interview at Tribeca, which the festival shared on Thursday. Francesca began by noting that her father always wanted to make a big Roman epic, and Scorsese joked that Ridley Scott had already made them all. He then said that he planned to work with Jolie on ‘Cleopatra’ until Kim Jong Un was upset with the comedy and “blew up everybody at Columbia.”

Scorsese said, “We were gonna do Cleopatra at one point, and then they made fun of [Kim Jong Un], and he got mad and blew up everybody at Columbia. Seth Rogen, right? And then he got mad, and [it] ruined Cleopatra.” Jolie would have played Cleopatra VII. When Francesca mentioned she was sad that the film didn’t happen, Scorsese told her to take it up with Rogen and joked that Kim Jong Un doesn’t have a good sense of humor. Hollywood tried to get Jolie in an expensive ‘Cleopatra’ film for years, and many big directors have been attached to or considered for the project. For context, Columbia Pictures is owned by Sony Pictures. In 2014, the studio was hacked by a North Korean state-sponsored hacking group, and lots of private emails, messages, and data from employees were leaked. This was at a time when Sony was preparing to release Rogen’s film, ‘The Interview,’ which was about two TV broadcasters who get caught up in a CIA plot to assassinate the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The leaks also revealed conversations about ‘Cleopatra.’

The film had been in development for years. In 2010, Jolie, James Cameron and the studio were looking into making a 3D film based on Stacy Schiff’s biography ‘Cleopatra: A Life.’ Brian Helgeland was supposed to adapt the script, and Scott Rudin would produce. However, the emails revealed the film had become the center of a battle between employees at the studio. Jolie wanted David Fincher to direct instead of Sony’s Steve Jobs biopic. Rudin and Amy Pascal (then co-chair of Sony) argued over this decision in emails. At that point, Sony had ‘Cleopatra’ lined up as Jolie’s next project after she had finished directing ‘Unbroken.’

After the hack, the film continued to be in development but never made it to camera. In 2016, Sony employed David Scarpa to rewrite the script. Denis Villeneuve was said to have been in talks to direct the film in 2017. Villeneuve now has ‘Dune: Part Three’ and the next ‘James Bond’ film in his schedule. Meanwhile, Scorsese’s next film is ‘What Happens at Night,’ an adaptation of Peter Cameron’s gothic novel by Apple Studios. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence. The film follows a couple going to a snowy city in Europe to adopt a baby.