Unbroken will indeed be filmed in Hawaii but not til the end of the year, contrary to reports that filming will begin in Oahu next month.  It should start after Brad finishes filming Fury with David Ayer.   Fury is a small scale, dialogue-heavy film and shooting shouldn't last much longer than two months.  It's a smaller production and less logistically demanding  than Unbroken which includes an extended sequence in the Pacific Ocean.

The Coen brothers, who were hired just this February, are still working on the Unbroken script after taking a break to promote their film Inside Llweyn Davis in Cannes.  Angelina is still in the midst of selecting the cast including the lead actor who will play Louie Zamperini.  An open casting call for age-appropriate actors was held 3 months ago.  Unlike most other actor-directors, she has not been inclined to cast herself in her films.

Unbroken could conceivably be finished in time to make a late Fall 2014 awards run.  Angelina could thus be part of two big promotional pushes:  Maleficent in the Summer and Unbroken in December.

She raved about the script for Cleopatra that Eric Roth turned in but didn't mention who might direct it, which means discussions with potential directors are still ongoing.  But with a script in hand that meets her approval, they're already very close to the starting gate. 

She'll be devoting the next 12 to 18 months to Unbroken which could give Ang Lee enough time to rest and recharge.  He told an interviewer in Cannes, "Sometimes when I put off a material... it keeps haunting me."  Given his earlier professed enthusiasm for Cleopatra, it should be the one foremost on his mind.   And Fincher, who reportedly dropped out a year ago, may also still be in the mix. 

Baz Bamigboye enjoys a sterling reputation among fellow entertainment journalists and is untainted by his association with the Daily Mail.  He filed a report earlier from the WWZ premiere and his favorable view clashed with the paper's own review which panned the film.

-- FussyK

BAZ BAMIGBOYE: Angelina Jolie gets back in the race as she plans to direct biopic about runner Louis Zamperini

By Baz Bamigboye
PUBLISHED: 17:25 EST, 6 June 2013 | UPDATED: 19:10 EST, 6 June 2013

Angelina Jolie told me her next movie will be for her three sons.

The actress is in pre-production to direct a film called Unbroken, based on a book about real-life 5,000m runner Louis Zamperini, who represented the U.S. at the 1936 Olympics, and who is still alive at the grand old age of 96.

‘He was captured during World War II and held by the Japanese,’ Angelina told me. ‘His family and the authorities thought he was dead, but he survived.

‘It’s a story of courage and I want to make it for my sons because it’s an example of sacrifice and survival against all odds. They’ll learn something from it.’

Angelina said she was still working on the script and was in the middle of casting, but shooting won’t take place until the end of the year, in Hawaii.
 

She said she was not intending to appear in the film; just direct it.

Angelina also mentioned that she still hopes to portray Cleopatra in a film based on Stacy Schiff’s book about the Egyptian queen. 

‘We have a really good Cleopatra script, so it will happen, eventually. I’m looking forward to playing her,’ she said.

We were chatting at the tail end of a post-screening party at the Corinthia Hotel in Whitehall. I’d been at the London premiere of World War Z (which stars Angelina’s husband, Brad Pitt) and, contrary to a lot of naysayers, who panned the zombie thriller, I enjoyed it. 

My son and I saw it on Saturday night, with a tub of popcorn between us, and we just sat back and went with it. It’s a thoroughly entertaining blockbuster (although I did wind up grabbing one of my son’s arms — and his girlfriend the other — every time a man-eating zombie got too close for comfort). 

We didn’t sit there thinking about the budget; we just watched the film. I went to see it again the next evening and, call me bonkers, but I liked it more the second time. 

There’s stuff that doesn’t quite work, but then I think that about almost every picture I see.

I have to tell you I found it more coherent than that rusty old Iron Man 3.