Martin Scorsese recently disclosed that a planned Cleopatra epic starring Angelina Jolie was abandoned following the 2014 Sony Pictures hack. The filmmaker jokingly blamed Seth Rogen, whose film The Interview triggered the North Korean cyberattack that crippled the studio.
How Kim Jong Un's outrage derailed the Jolie-Scorsese collaboration
Martin Scorsese revealed during an episode of Tribeca's Crafty that he had a completed script and the commitment of Angelina Jolie for a "wild" take on the life of Cleopatra. However, the project was scrapped after the 2014 Sony Pictures hack, which targeted Columbia Pictures. According to ScreenRant, the breach was a retaliatory strike by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who was infuriated by the plot of Seth Rogen's The Interview, a comedy centered on the assassination of the North Korean leader.
The resulting chaos at Sony Pictures led to the leak of sensitive internal documents, which Martin Scorsese claims effectively "runed" the Cleopatra project. While the director now shares a professional relationship with Seth Rogen, he continues to playfully hold Rogen responsible for the loss of the historical epic, noting that the disaster occurred simply because Kim Jong Un lacked a sense of humor.
The 2014 Sony breach and the loss of Spider-Man 3
The collapse of the Jolie-Scorsese project was not an isolated incident, but part of a wider purge of content at Sony Pictures. As ScreenRant reported, the 2014 data breach caused significant collateral damage to the studio's slate , including the cancellation of The Amazing Spider-Man 3. This vacuum in Sony's superhero strategy eventually paved the way for the landmark deal that integrated the web-slinger into the Marvel Cinematic Universe .
Other projects suffered similar fates, such as the Spider-Man's Sinister Six movie, which Drew Goddard recently confirmed was canceled as a direct result of the hack. The breach did more than kill scripts; it exposed employee salaries and private emails, creating a corporate environment where high-risk, high-budget prestige projects like Scorsese's Cleopatra became untenable.
Gal Gadot's Cleopatra and the persistence of whitewashing debates
While the Scorsese version vanished, a different Cleopatra project starring Gal Gadot has remained in development for several years. This iteration has seen significant leadership changes, with director Patty Jenkins stepping back and Kari Skogland taking over the helm, working from a script by Laeta Kalogridis.
The Gal Gadot project has faced significant public criticism regarding whitewashing, a controversy that echoes the reception of the 1963 Cleopatra film starring Elizabeth Taylor. The debate highlights a recurring tension in Hollywood between the desire for star power and the demand for historical and ethnic authenticity in the portrayal of the Egyptian leader.
The mystery of the finished Cleopatra script
Despite the project's cancellation,several specific details about the Scorsese version remain unknown. While the source confirms that a script was finished, it is unclear if that screenplay has ever been read by anyone outside the original production circle or if it exists in a form that could be adapted by another director.
Furthermore, the reporting focuses primarily on Martin Scorsese's recollection; there has been no recent public comment from Angelina Jolie regarding her lost role. it remains unverified whether other supporting cast members were attached to the project before the Sony Pictures hack ended its viability.
From cinematic rivalry to The Studio's 13 Emmy wins
The irony of the situation is that Martin Scorsese and Seth Rogen have since become collaborators. Scorsese recently appeared as a guest actor in The Studio, a series co-created by Rogen for Apple TV. The collaboration proved successful, with Scorsese earning an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series.
The Studio went on to win a record-breaking 13 Emmys in total, suggesting that the professional relationship between the two men has evolved far beyond the "doomed" project of a decade ago. Since the hack, Martin Scorsese has continued his streak of critical successes with films such as The Irishman and Killers of the Flower Moon, and is currently preparing for the release of What Happens at Night.
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