Angelina Jolie Behind the Lens: Will Hollywood Embrace a Sex Symbol Director?

Could Angelina Jolie take home an Oscar for Best Director next year?

Not only has the sultry siren (pictured with Brad Pitt last week in Cannes) written and directed her first movie, the Bosnian war drama 'In the Land of Blood and Honey,' but she's now landed a distribution deal.

Jolie's film will be released Dec. 23, a date that clearly announces the film's ambitions as a serious awards-season contender.

You'd think it would be tricky, making the transition from sex symbol on camera to acclaimed filmmaker behind the lens. But if that's Jolie's dream, she's in excellent company. Critics and Academy voters have often been remarkably kind to matinee idols getting their feet wet as directors.

Exhibits A and B: Robert Redford and Kevin Costner. The movie hunks both won Oscars for Best Director and Best Picture their very first time out of the gate. Redford won in 1981 for family drama 'Ordinary People,' Costner in 1991 for the epic western 'Dances With Wolves.'

(Coincidentally, both beat veteran Martin Scorsese, who was a contender with 'Raging Bull' in '81 and 'Goodfellas' in '91.)

Warren Beatty and Mel Gibson both won Oscars for Best Director, after their second efforts behind the camera, Beatty in 1982 for 'Reds' and Gibson in 1996 for 'Braveheart,' which also won Best Picture.

George Clooney was Oscar-nominated for his second directing job, 2005's 'Good Night, and Good Luck' (he didn't win).

The Academy also likes it when easy-on-the-eyes screen stars create their own opportunities by writing screenplays. Emma Thompson won an Oscar for her first screenplay, 1995's Jane Austen adaptation 'Sense and Sensibility,' in which she also starred. Matt Damon and Ben Affleck won an Academy Award for their first screenplay, 1997's drama 'Good Will Hunting,' which had juicy roles for both of them. Beatty's first writing effort, 1975's 'Shampoo,' scored him an Oscar nomination.

Jolie's film has traits in common with some movies mentioned above. It centers on a controversial historical event (� la Costner, Beatty, Gibson and Clooney), although it's not a vanity project, since Jolie didn't cast herself in the movie.

It may help that Jolie, 35, already has an Oscar -- for her supporting role in 1999's 'Girl, Interrupted' -- and that she's made humanitarian disasters (of the sort depicted in her new film) her signature issue as an activist. Thus, she's unlikely to be seen as a dilettante with no business telling this story or getting behind the camera.

And let's face it, any excuse to get Jolie on a red carpet makes both the film industry and moviegoers very happy.

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Oh, Brangelina!

Angelina and Brad arrive at the Hollywood premiere of 'Salt' at Grauman's Chinese Theater on July 19. Check out dozens more Brangelina Pics >>

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Source: http://www.popeater.com/2011/05/22/angelina-jolie-sex-symbol-director/

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