Veteran movie actor, director and producer, Angelina Jolie, is set to to direct a film about Kenyan conservationist Richard Leakey’s fight with ivory poachers.
The Oscar-winning actress of Unbroken, out in December, will go behind the camera once again for Africa, with a screenplay by another Oscar winner, Eric Roth, who is remembered for writing Forrest Gump.
Richard Leakey, 69, is a former head of the Kenya Wildlife Service. He played a major role containing the rampant poaching in the late 1980s, using some extreme measures like sending helicopter gunships into national parks. The population of elephant and rhino grew from his efforts but that is now being negated by the current high level of poaching.
“I’ve felt a deep connection to Africa and its culture for much of my life,” Jolie said, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The film is about “a man drawn into the violent conflict with elephant poachers, who emerged with a deeper understanding of man’s footprint and a profound sense of responsibility for the world around him,” Jolie said.
The new movie for Skydance Productions will be produced by Jolie, David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Jon Peters. She will team up with renowned cinematographer Roger Deakins, who also shot Unbroken.
Ellison called Leakey “inspirational,” saying: “Africa is a story that deserves to be told. I know that it will exceed my expectations in Angelina’s hands.”