Angelina Jolie wanted David Fincher to direct her in the upcoming "Cleopatra" film, but Hollywood producer Scott Rudin had other plans for Fincher, namely the new Steve Jobs biopic. He made his demands known to Sony's motion picture chief Amy Pascal, her studio overseeing both projects, and used some harsh words to describe the "Cleopatra" movie and its star Jolie.
In one of the leaked Sony emails from February, Rudin ordered Pascal to "shut Angie down before she makes it hard for David to do Jobs," according to Defamer.
Fincher eventually left the Jobs movie due to his "aggressive demands for compensation and control," according to The Hollywood Reporter in April. Danny Boyle later came aboard to direct the script by Aaron Sorkin, but Sony dropped the film from its slate last month before Universal Pictures picked it up.
Rudin saw the potential for "Cleopatra" to become a "big commercial hit," but he quickly soured on the direction of the project as his discussions with Pascal continued.
"There is no movie of 'Cleopatra' to be made and how that is a bad thing given the insanity and rampaging spoiled ego of this woman and the cost of the movie is beyond me," Rudin wrote, referring to Jolie.
He continued his rant against Jolie in another email.
"I'm not destroying my career over a minimally talented spoiled brat who thought nothing of shoving this off her plate for eighteen months so she could go direct a movie," Rudin wrote. "She's a camp event and a celebrity and that's all and the last thing anybody needs is to make a giant bomb with her that any fool could see coming."
The Sony leaks have revealed much about the business of Sony Pictures. The hackers group "Guardians of Peace" has claimed responsibility for the attack because of Sony's upcoming film "The Interview" that features a CIA plot to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
