Seth Rogen ruined Scorsese’s Cleopatra movie dream
The dream of directing a legendary historical epic starring Angelina Jolie seemed tantalizingly close to becoming reality for Martin Scorsese. But as is often the case in Hollywood, even the grandest cinematic ambitions can be derailed by unexpected, chaotic forces. It turns out, the path to creating a Cleopatra film was less a historical epic and more a tangled mess of studio politics and a rather unfortunate cameo.
Scorsese recently shared that he and his team were very close to making the lavish production of Cleopatra. The vision involved Angelina Jolie as the iconic queen, but the project took an unexpected turn thanks to the involvement of Seth Rogen. According to Scorsese, the dream was shattered when Rogen’s presence intervened, leading to a spectacular, if frustrating, detour.
The fallout from this creative collision traced back to Rogen’s previous work. In 2014, Rogen starred in The Interview, a film centered on a fictional assassination mission targeting Kim Jong Un. This involvement proved far more explosive than anticipated. The North Korean government took offense at the film’s existence and threatened action against the United States. This geopolitical tension spilled over into the studio, culminating in a massive hack of Sony Pictures that leaked internal employee records and private emails.
Among the documents that surfaced during the scandal, an exchange between producer Scott Rudin and then-Sony co-chair Amy Pascal revealed some telling commentary. Rudin reportedly referred to Angelina Jolie as a “minimally talented spoiled brat,” adding fuel to the fire about the tumultuous environment surrounding the production.
Scorsese reflected on the irony of the situation, noting that while the idea for Cleopatra was strong and ready, the involvement of Rogen seemed to spoil the magic. He wryly suggested that the disruption was simply because “Kim Jong Un doesn’t have a sense of humour,” implying that the chaos stemmed from a lack of shared sensibility rather than actual creative failure.
While the fate of the ancient Egyptian queen remains a cinematic footnote, Scorsese is currently immersed in a different kind of creative pursuit. He is deep in post-production on What Happens at Night, a psychological horror film featuring a cast of stars including Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Patricia Clarkson, Mads Mikkelsen, and Jared Harris.
What Happens at Night is envisioned as a dream-like story about a married couple who travel to a small, snowy European town to adopt a baby. They check into a cavernous, largely deserted hotel where they encounter a strange cast of characters—a flamboyant chanteuse, a depraved businessman, and a charismatic faith healer. As they struggle to claim their child, they begin to realize that nothing in this frozen world is quite as it seems about the lives they have built together.
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