‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ Director Martin Scorsese Reveals His Angelina Jolie ‘Cleopatra’ Was Derailed by the Sony Hack

Hollywood is full of ambitious projects that never reached the screen, but few sound as tantalizing as a Martin Scorsese ‘Cleopatra’ epic. The idea of one of cinema’s greatest directors tackling the story of Egypt’s last pharaoh, with Angelina Jolie in the lead, has hovered over the industry for years. Now the filmmaker has offered a candid look at just how close it came to happening.

The ‘Cleopatra’ project had a long and tangled history at Sony, where Jolie had been attached to a big-budget version of the story. It was widely known in the industry that the studio wanted her to star in an expensive historical epic. What was never clear was how far the project had actually progressed once a director entered the picture.

Scorsese has now filled in that gap. In a nearly 40-minute conversation with his daughter Francesca, shared by Tribeca as part of its ‘Crafty’ interview series, he said he was set to make the movie before the 2014 Sony Pictures hack changed everything. He explained that the script was ready, that Jolie was going to play Cleopatra VII, and that he’s still angry about how it ended.

Scorsese’s explanation traced the project’s demise back to ‘The Interview’, the Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg comedy about a plot to assassinate North Korea’s leader. The hack that followed leaked troves of confidential Sony emails, and in Scorsese’s telling, the fallout wiped out the studio leadership he was working with. He joked that his frustration should be directed at Rogen, who had nothing to do with ‘Cleopatra’.

The remarks are classic Scorsese: wry, a little exasperated and clearly still stung. He added that the screenplay by Eric Roth was ready to go. One report says the film would have featured Leonardo DiCaprio and possibly Daniel Day-Lewis alongside Jolie, though that casting detail remains unconfirmed.

The hack itself exposed plenty of drama around the project. Leaked exchanges between producer Scott Rudin and then-Sony co-chair Amy Pascal showed Rudin harshly criticizing Jolie, and both later apologized publicly. The emails also revealed that Jolie had wanted David Fincher to direct ‘Cleopatra’ and was unhappy when he was attached to the Steve Jobs biopic instead.

In one exchange, Jolie reportedly said she was ready to get on a plane and plead with Scorsese to take the job. Another message indicated he was booked up until 2016, which kept the director search going. Scorsese’s own comments suggest her efforts eventually paid off.

Not everyone agrees that the hack alone was to blame. Gold Derby notes that the film was already struggling before the breach, with tensions over who would direct and friction among the producers and the star. In that view, the leak made existing problems public rather than creating them from scratch.

Even so, the scandal had huge consequences at Sony. Pascal stepped down as studio chief in the wake of the hack, and the ‘Steve Jobs’ film ultimately moved to Universal. ‘Cleopatra’ never came together, and no version has made it to production.

Part of the fascination comes from the sheer weight of the talent involved. Scorsese has long been drawn to stories of power and ambition, and Cleopatra’s rise and fall would have fit neatly into that territory. Pairing him with Jolie, one of Hollywood’s biggest stars at the time, would have been an event.

It’s also a reminder of how fragile big studio projects can be. A single security breach and a cascade of leaked opinions were enough to scatter the people attached to a film that was apparently ready to move forward. For a director who is still making ambitious movies, the story is a rare glimpse of what might have been.

Scorsese’s frustration, delivered with a smile, has also given fans something to debate. Would a Scorsese-Jolie ‘Cleopatra’ have been a masterpiece, or would the production troubles have caught up with it? That’s a question no one can answer, but the director’s regret suggests he saw something special in it.

Have something to add? Let us know in the comments!