The back-to-back sequels Avatar 2 and Avatar 3 may not be next on James Cameron's to-do list, as Deadline reports the director is exploring the possibility of making Angelina Jolie's Cleopatra his next priority. James Cameron and Sony Pictures Entertainment are currently discussing the project, which will be based on Stacy Schiff's book 'Cleopatra: A Life'.

Angelina Jolie has been attached to this 3D project for quite sometime, and is anxious to make the movie happen soon. Cleopatra is being fast-tracked by Sony Entertainment because they feel screenwriter Brian Helgeland has turned in a "brilliant script deserving of epic treatment". And their plan is to turn it into a substantial franchise for Jolie.

At this time, James Cameron has no other projects in the works aside from his Avatar sequels. The studio feels he is capable of producing a worldwide spectacle where every penny will be on the big screen. And they are ready to get Cleopatra in front of cameras as early as 2011.

The story will show a much truer side to Cleopatra than the 1963 version starring Elizabeth Taylor. Book writer Stacy Schiff has discovered rare and astonishing facts that show an entirely different side to the Queen. About the project, Angelina Jolie stated:

"I will play it differently to Elizabeth Taylor, but I could never be as lovely as she was. We are trying to uncover the truth about her as a leader and not just a sex symbol which she really wasn't -- she didn't have many lovers, maybe only two, and they're men she had children with. She was misunderstood and her life story was written wrongly. I always thought her life was very glamorous. Then I read her story and found a different side to her - that she was a mother, leader and an intellect who spoke five languages! Her upbringing also reflected her relationship with Rome -- all that is much more interesting than what she was summed up to be."