Ang Lee Tops Sony's List for 'Cleopatra'

Is Ang Lee ready for a trip down the Nile?

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Columbia Pictures has begun courting the director for its Angelina Jolie starrer Cleopatra.

Word of the studio's interest in Lee began circulating Wednesday, and Vulture broke the story Thursday afternoon. No offer has been made yet, according to multiple sources.

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Lee, who won a best director Oscar for 2005's Brokeback Mountain, rose to the top of the studio's wish list for the high-profile gig. The project has been coveted by directors since Scott Rudin acquired Stacy Schiff’s nonfiction best-seller Cleopatra: A Life in 2010 and began developing it as a Jolie vehicle.

Speculation had centered on David Fincher as a possible candidate to direct the project, but Fincher still hasn't committed to Sony's second installment of the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo franchise, The Girl Who Played With Fire.

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Lee's next movie, Life of Pi, already is drawing critical buzz.

He is repped by CAA.