For years, Angelina Jolie has been closely involved with the United Nations in various roles and projects, so it’s not a surprise her directorial efforts (“By The Sea” aside) have leaned toward exploring the ramifications of war. “In The Land Of Blood And Honey” delved into the Bosnian conflict, “Unbroken” tackled WWII, and her upcoming “First They Killed My Father” explores the brutal regime of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. No surprise, then, that her next directorial effort may again focus on the human cost of battle.
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THR reveals that Jolie is working on an adaptation of Alessandro Baricco‘s novel “Without Blood” and it could be her next project behind the camera. The film tells the story of a young girl who seeks revenge for the murder of her father. Here’s the official synopsis:
An unforgettable fable about the brutality of war — and one girl’s quest for revenge and healing, from the author of the acclaimed international bestseller Silk. When — in an unnamed place and time — Manuel Roca’s enemies hunt him down to kill him, they fail to discover Nina, his youngest child, hidden in a hole beneath his farmhouse floor. After this carnage Tito, one of the murderers, discovers Nina’s trapdoor. Enthralled by the sight of Nina’s perfect innocence, he keeps quiet. By the time she has grown up, Nina’s innocence will have bloomed into something else altogether, and one by one the wartime hunters will become the peacetime hunted. But not until a striking old woman calls upon a familiar old man selling newspapers in town can we know what Nina will ultimately make of her brutal legacy.
Meanwhile, on the acting front, Jolie has a number of scripts and offers coming her way, which we’ll just run down quickly:
— “Maleficent 2”
— an adaptation of Simon Sebag Montefiore’s “Catherine The Great And Potemkin: The Imperial Love Affair”
— an adaptation of Clare Mulley’s “The Spy Who Loved”
— biopic “Shoot Like A Girl,” which is getting a new draft of the script from “American Sniper” writer Jason Hall
Which of these projects moves forward and when is anybody’s guess, as they have multiple factors in the air, not to mention that Jolie remains one of the more costly actresses in Hollywood, and one who is very choosy about material, too. But no doubt they all have great potential, and it’ll be interesting to see which one goes ahead first.