Angelina Jolie says: “I’ve felt a deep connection to Africa” as she reveals the continent as the location – and the name – of her newest movie project.
Africa will tell the true story of Richard Leakey – a celebrated fossil hunter and conservationist and his fight to defend the wild elephants of Kenya against ivory poachers.
Angelina said in a press release: “I’ve felt a deep connection to Africa and its culture for much of my life, and was taken with Eric [Roth’s] beautiful script about a man drawn into the violent conflict with elephant poachers who emerged with a deeper understanding of man’s footprint and a profound sense of responsibility for the world around him.”
Richard Leakey, on whom the film is based, made headlines around the world when a huge stockpile of ivory, worth an estimated $3 million, was burned in Nairobi National Park in 1989.
Some newlyweds might feel the need to take it easy in the Honeymoon period after tying the knot. Not so Angelina, who wed long-time beau Brad Pitt at the end of August and then the very next week was back in the director’s chair with Brad by her side as they jetted off to Malta to work on their film By the Sea, in which the pair co-starred.
Even with that film still shooting, busy Ange is already planning her next move as she announces her newest plan for a blockbuster.
The film will be Angelina’s fourth film as director, in which she proves yet again that she’s not afraid to tackle the big issues. Her 2011 directorial debut – In the Land of Blood and Honey, was set against the background of the Bosnian war. Her second film, Unbroken, much of which was shot in Australia, will be released later this year and is reportedly set in the Japanese war camps of WWII.
The movie that they’re currently still filming – By the Sea, is set in France in the mid-1970s, with Brangelina playing a married couple travelling the country together and yet slowly growing apart. It was earlier revealed that they were apparently shooting some very steamy sex scenes together for the role.
Clearly a fan of keeping it in the family, Ange has not only Brad starring alongside her, but her children too, in yet another movie that she’s cramming into her schedule. Cleopatra is a biopic starring Angelina as the Egyptian Queen in which Brad is said to be starring alongside her, with Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh, Vivienne and Knox all signed up for roles too. We guess they really are the first family of Hollywood!
