4 May 2003
Variety.com - click
here for original source
Anthony
to 'Alexander'
Thesp in talks for
Ptolemy role
By Michael Fleming
Anthony Hopkins is negotiating to star alongside Colin Farrell in Intermedia's "Alexander."
Hopkins, reteaming
with his "Nixon" director Oliver Stone, will play the role of Ptolemy,
the last surviving general in the army of Macedonian conqueror Alexander the
Great who went on to become the Pharaoh of Egypt. A younger actor will be cast
to play Ptolemy in battle scenes.
Intermedia is in an epic race with the rival Baz Luhrmann-Leonardo DiCaprio
project at Universal and DreamWorks, produced by Dino De Laurentiis. In a
surprise move, Intermedia has established Morocco as its primary shooting
location, the locale Luhrmann told Daily Variety he had abandoned for his home
turf Australia because he couldn't get insurance for his actors.
Whether it was because of the end of the war in Iraq or Stone's persistence, the
Intermedia-financed film figures to take advantage of all the amenities that had
been offered to its rival.
Part of the Stone film will be shot in London.
Warner Bros.' enlistment as domestic distributor for Stone's film gave the pic
an early lead over its rival. Stone has already done some shooting near the
Himalayas, and principal photography is on course to begin in July. Filming will
stop for a month in August and resume in September. If Stone meets that
timetable, it seems unlikely that Luhrmann can make his film as quickly, since
DiCaprio is expected to first star for Martin Scorsese in the IEG-backed Howard
Hughes pic "The Aviator," which teams Miramax and WB on domestic
territories.
"Alexander" will be produced by Moritz Borman, Jon Kilik, Iain Smith
and Thomas Schuely."