Since the mid-1990s, McQuarrie had worked on an [[Alexander the Great]] epic that he wanted to make his directorial debut.<ref name="Alex">{{cite web|url=http://corona.bc.ca/films/details/alexanderthegreat.html|title=Coming Attractions - Alexander|publisher=[[IGN]]|date=August 15, 2002|access-date=April 13, 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030210114332/http://corona.bc.ca/films/details/alexanderthegreat.html|archive-date=February 10, 2003|url-status=dead}}</ref> On June 9, 1998, it was reported by ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' that McQuarrie had completed the script, for an [[Alexander the Great]] epicand that he wanted to make his directorial debut. [[Warner Bros.]] was 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 film, described as McQuarrie's "dream project", was developed over the course of several years. On November 17, 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> On October 22, 2001, [[Martin Scorsese]] became attached to direct the script, with [[Leonardo DiCaprio]] lined up to star as Alexander.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Harris|first=Dana|url=https://variety.com/2001/film/news/ieg-enlists-in-great-war-1117854649/|title=IEG enlists in Great war|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=October 22, 2001|access-date=April 4, 2025}}</ref>
