[Breaking News] Naomi may be Queen of the Desert!

Werner Herzog And Naomi Watts May Conquer The Desert Together
Source: Vulture, by Ethan Anderton
- Feb 3, 2011

*Note: rumour at posting time and subject to confirmation

Clint Eastwood just snagged the talents of the lovely British actress Naomi Watts for his biopic J. Edgar, but now another high profile director has his sights on the King Kong actress. Vulture reports that Werner Herzog (Rescue Dawn, Grizzly Man) has already written a new drama called Queen of the Desert and the director is apparently already in serious discussions with Ms. Watts about starring the film. The film will tell the story about real-life British woman Gertrude Bell who was a well-known traveler, writer, archaeologist, explorer, cartographer and political attaché for the British Empire at the dawn of the twentieth century.

According to Wikipedia Bell also "played a major role in establishing and helping administer the modern state of Iraq, utilizing her unique perspective from her travels and relations with tribal leaders throughout the Middle East. During her lifetime she was highly esteemed and trusted by British officials and given an immense amount of power for a woman at the time. She has also been described as 'one of the few representatives of His Majesty's Government remembered by the Arabs with anything resembling affection."

Sounds like another interesting and unexpected project from Herzog as a director and a promising role for Watts. If all goes well, she'll likely take the part after a short break following her work on The Impossible (which she's shooting right now with Ewan McGregor) as well as J. Edgar which the actress is shooting in the spring of this year.

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