In development since at least 2006 – when producer Scott Rudin bought the rights to Stacy Schiff’s book Cleopatra: A Life – the proposed new film about the Egyptian queen’s world has been through the wringer, with more than one director pondering, then ditching, the project. But the Queen of the Nile now has a new suitor, in the shape of Ang Lee, Empire reported.

Currently riding high on the success of Life Of Pi, which has won several awards already and seems sure to pick up Oscar nominations, Lee has expressed a desire to tackle the Cleopatra project, which would star Angelina Jolie.

"I'm about to read the script," Lee told The Hollywood Reporter at the Palm Springs International Film Festival Gala. "It just feels right to me after all the other types of films I've done. What does it have in common with any of them? They’re all totally different! That’s what makes this perfect.”

Cleopatra has been the target of at least three directors’ affections in the past, with Paul Greengrass, James Cameron and, most famously, David Fincher all considering the idea. We’ll have to wait and see if Lee manages to make it happen, but given the magic he wove around Pi after years of Yann Martel’s book being considered unfilmable, he’s earned plenty of trust.