It always seemed inevitable that somebody would eventually get round to casting Angelina Jolie as Cleopatra. That person is powerful producer Scott Rudin, who has secured the rights to Cleopatra: A Life, an upcoming book by Stacy Schiff, and has made no secret of the fact that he wants the all-seeing Jolie for the title role.

When some wiseacre (half in jest, surely), suggested that Brad Pitt might play Mark Antony, Rudin did not demur. Shades of Burton and Taylor?