On JulyJune 309, 19991998, it was reported thatby McQuarrie''[[Variety was(magazine)|Variety]]'' attachedthat toMcQuarrie directhad ''Alexander'',completed athe [[biographicalscript film]]for aboutan [[Alexander the Great]],forepic that he wanted to make his directorial debut. [[Warner Bros.]] Pictureswas eyeing [[Matthew McConaughey]] for the lead.<ref>{{cite magazine|author=Variety Staff|url=https://variety.com/1998/voices/columns/alexander-again-eyes-greatness-kirk-no-shirk-1117471668/|title=Alexander again eyes greatness; 'Kirk' no shirk|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=June 9, 1998|access-date=January 25, 2025}}</ref> On July 30, 1999, it was reported that McQuarrie was currently attached as director of ''Alexander''.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Shaw|first=Jessica|url=https://ew.com/article/1999/07/30/re-best-unproduced-screenplays/|title=Re: Best Unproduced Screenplays|magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|date=July 30, 1999|access-date=August 6, 2024}}</ref> The projectfilm, described as McQuarrie's "dream project", was developed over the course of several years. By 2000, he revealed that he was retooling the project ever since directing his first feature; "My vision of ''Alexander'' has been completely blown apart. I am starting all over from scratch. Knowledge is death in my experience. The more I know about film, the harder it is to create freely."<ref>{{cite web|last=Pulver|first=Andrew|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2000/nov/17/culture.features4|title='It's an intimate love story between two men. Try selling that to Warner Bros.'|website=[[The Guardian]]|date=November 17, 2000|access-date=August 5, 2024}}</ref>
