Scorsese links lost epic to 2014 breach
Martin Scorsese has said that a Cleopatra project he was preparing with Angelina Jolie in the title role never reached the screen, and he attributes its collapse to the turmoil that followed the 2014 attack on Sony. In the opening installment of Crafty, a Tribeca original series, the filmmaker recalled that the studio had been developing the film and that the plan was for Jolie to portray Cleopatra VII. He described the intended production as one that would have been bold and unconventional.[S1][S2][S3][S4]
The director connected the project's demise to the anger provoked by The Interview, a Seth Rogen comedy built around a fictional plot to kill North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un. In November 2014, a group that wanted Sony to withhold that film carried out the hack. Scorsese's retelling places Rogen at the center of the chain of events, though the comedian had no hand in deciding the fate of Cleopatra.[S1][S6][S7][S8]
Leaked messages and a script by Eric Roth
The breach made public thousands of internal emails. Among them were messages from the producer Scott Rudin to Sony's Amy Pascal that described Jolie in insulting terms, calling her a minimally talented spoiled brat. That disclosure became one of the most widely reported episodes of the leak and added a public dimension to the studio's internal dealings.[S1]
Eric Roth, who later wrote Scorsese's 2023 release Killers of the Flower Moon, was attached to write the Cleopatra screenplay. Scorsese's remarks in the Crafty episode are the fullest account he has given of how far the venture progressed before it stalled. The series installment featuring his recollection was made available for viewing.[S1]
