Universal Studios is set to pick up the Gal Gadot starring Cleopatra which was previously set up at Paramount Pictures, Deadline reports. While the latter is still interested in the project, the studio is unable to meet the timeline that the movie’s creative elements necessitate.
Previously, the movie was set up at Paramount, with Gadot and her Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins helming. However, when Jenkins stepped down, Kari Skogland, who helmed Marvel Studios’ The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, was brought in to take over. Jenkins is still attached to the feature as an executive producer. Furthermore, per Deadline, ‘no deals are in place at Universal’ yet.
The Plot
Cleopatra aims to tell the real-life legend of the Egyptian princess who ruled the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt from 51 to 30 BC and was its last active ruler. She was the daughter of Ptolemy, the Macedonian Greek general, and companion of Alexander the Great. When Pompey, Roman ruler Julius Caesar’s mentor-turned-rival fled to Egypt after a war for control of the empire, Egypt became a fixation of Roman rulers. Later, Cleopatra and her brother battled for the throne of Egypt. However, Cleopatra won that internal struggle by appealing personally to Caesar. She had a complicated relationship with Rome, becoming the lover of Caesar and later Marc Antony. The latter alliance would become the undoing of both Antony and Cleopatra.
Hollywood has tackled Cleopatra’s life several times in the past, most famously in the 1963 sword-and-sandals epic starring Elizabeth Taylor as the queen with Richard Burton as Mark Antony. The film provided plenty of fodder for the gossip columns as Taylor and Burton had an affair while portraying Cleopatra and Antony’s romance onscreen. Despite being the highest-grossing film that year and winning four Oscars from nine nominations, “Cleopatra” was initially a flop as numerous shooting scandals, including director and cast changes, led to the film becoming the most expensive production in Hollywood history at the time.
Cleopatra Movie Release Date
In a February interview with InStyle, Gadot spoke about the project. She said, “I can’t reveal a lot, but I can tell you that we’re going to celebrate the Cleopatra story. We’re going to show not just how sexy and appealing she was, but how strategic and smart, and how much impact she had and still has on the world we’re living in today”.
Although Currently, there are no more details available for the project, the reported plan is for the Cleopatra movie to see a release sometime in 2023.
