I’ve prayed for days like this! Over the past decade, Angelina Jolie took a major step away from acting. She’s been much more focused on directing and her humanitarian work, in addition to raising her children. It sucks because Angelina is a g–damn movie star and one of the few women in Hollywood who can credibly play an action lead. There aren’t many actresses who can play action roles credibly – you can count them on one hand. Halle Berry is definitely one of them. So, good news: Angelina and Halle are making an action movie together. The whole package, with Jolie and Berry attached, sold very quickly after an aggressive bidding war.
Following an intense multi-studio bidding war that went into the weekend, Warner Bros has landed the package Maude v Maude that has Angelina Jolie and Halle Berry attached to star. Roseanne Liang is on board to direct from Scott Mosier’s script. Berry and Jolie will produce along with Berry’s producing partner Holly Jeter via their banner HalleHolly, along with Jeff Kirschenbaum and Joe Roth who will produce through RK Films. Mosier and Liang will exec produce. Exact details are being kept under wraps, but and insider describes the pic as a “Bond vs. Bourne”-type action thriller.
While Berry and Jolie have had careers that have spanned three decades, the two have never worked together. Both are veterans of the genre, though; Jolie starred as the title character in the hit action thriller Salt, and Berry played Jinx in the blockbuster Bond installment Die Another Day. Other action-heavy credits include Berry starring in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum and the X-Men movies, while Jolie’s credits include starring in Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Maleficent as well as originating the role of Lara Croft in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider.
The package hit the market last week and wrapped over the weekend, with Warner Bros getting aggressive and putting in the winning bid. Since taking over as co-studio heads, Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy having been pushing to get more movie star-centric packages into their future slate. Once this package with two of the bigger stars in the last two decades came together, it was too hard to pass up, with Warners putting in an impressive eight-figure bid you haven’t been seeing from the studios as often these days, especially with the endless amounts of money the streamers seem to have.
Bond/Bourne, I would assume spy vs. spy, exotic locales and great action sequences and at least one hand-to-hand combat scene between Jolie and Berry? I’m in. You had me at spy vs. spy. It’s also amazing that a project produced by and starring two women (one of them 47 years old, the other 56 years old) is getting the kind of aggressive studio bidding war which would normally be seen for a dude-led action film.
Why do I feel like Halle and Angelina have known each other and been friendly for decades? I think my assumption comes from the fact that Jolie was married to Billy Bob Thornton when he starred with Halle in Monster’s Ball? I feel like they must have known each other back then. I hope we hear about their friendship.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
LOS ANGELES, CA – SEPTEMBER 25: Halle Berry attends The Academy Museum Of Motion Pictures Opening Gala at Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on September 25, 2021 in Los Angeles, California.,Image: 635084934, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: JFY1, Model Release: no, Pictured: Halle Berry, Credit line: Joe Sutter / Avalon 
Italy, Rome, 24 October, 2021 : Last day of the Rome Film Festival. Red carpet of the movie ‘Eternals’ Pictured : Angelina Jolie,Image: 639623383, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: **** World right excluding Italy ****, Model Release: no, Credit line: Fabio Mazzarella / Agenzia Sintesi / Avalon 
Angelina Jolie poses during a photo call for the movie ‘Eternals’ at the 16th edition of the Rome Film Fest in Rome, ITALY-24-10-2021,Image: 639679619, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Maria Laura Antonelli / AGF Foto / Avalon
Angelina Jolie during the Red Carpet of movie ‘Eternals’ at the 16th Rome Film Festival, Rome, ITALY-24-10-2021,Image: 639688676, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Maria Laura Antonelli / AGF Foto / Avalon 
Angelina Jolie attends the photocall of the movie “Eternals”, October 25, 2021 in Rome, Italy. 25 Oct 2021,Image: 639717417, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Maria Laura Antonelli / AGF Foto / Avalon 
Angelina Jolie on the red carpet for the ‘Eternals’ UK Gala Screening at BFI IMAX Waterloo in London, United Kingdom.,Image: 640270362, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: To licence this image, email info@sidetrack.london for more information., Model Release: no, Credit line: Cat Morley / Avalon
LOS ANGELES, CA – MARCH 13: Halle Berry attends the 27th Annual Critics Choice Awards at Fairmont Century Plaza on March 13, 2022 in Los Angeles, California.,Image: 670000119, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Halle Berry, Credit line: Jeffrey Mayer / Avalon 
BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 12: Halle Berry attends the 2023 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 12, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California.,Image: 763381753, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Halle Berry, Credit line: Jeffrey Mayer / AvalonncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pLHLnpmirJOdxm%2BvzqZmcWljaoNze8Cnnp6kmaOuoLbOpaCel5iWua2xvpucq6qplK6zsb6snK2XpKSstMDAq5aipo%2BWsLW1zqdkraCinrmtsdGYpJqtlJqst6vMmqydnV8%3D