Martin Scorsese Says Angelina Jolie's 'Cleopatra' Was Killed by Seth Rogen's 'The Interview' and the 2014 Sony Hack

Martin Scorsese revealed that his planned Cleopatra epic starring Angelina Jolie was scrapped due to fallout from the 2014 Sony Pictures hack, which was sparked by Seth Rogen's comedy The Interview. The director said the film 'was gonna be really wild' but was 'ruined' when the studio's internal emails were leaked, exposing sensitive discussions about the project. The hack, attributed to North Korean-linked groups over the film's assassination plot of Kim Jong-un, led to a massive corporate crisis that derailed multiple high-profile productions. Scorsese's Cleopatra, which would have re-teamed him with Jolie after their work on The Good Shepherd, was among the casualties as Sony scrambled to contain the damage. The director's comments highlight how geopolitical cyberattacks can reshape Hollywood's creative pipeline, leaving ambitious projects in limbo. For fans of historical epics, this remains one of the great what-ifs of modern cinema—a reminder that even legendary filmmakers are vulnerable to forces far beyond the soundstage.