Legendary Egyptian queen Cleopatra is one of those subjects that always seem to cause trouble whenever Hollywood dips her into the milky bath of filmmaking. Back in 1963, Joseph L Mankiewicz’ version all but emptied the coffers of 20th Century Fox and became more famous for its troubles than its release, and more recently (well, a decade ago) James Cameron, Steven Soderbergh and Angelina Jolie have all been linked to films about her. We'll wish all good luck, then, to Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins and star Gal Gadot, who have put together their own version.
Paramount emerged victorious after a bidding war that included Universal, Netflix, Apple and Wonder Woman's studio home of Warner Bros. Gadot hatched the current idea and Laeta Kalogridis is on to write the script after researching the angle that the team wants to take. They have yet to announce details, but we'd figure it'll be a more proactive take on the ruler who had a complicated relationship with the Roman Empire, and more specifically with Caesar and Marc Antony. Sony still has the rights to its own movie, so this may become a cinematic arms race if the studio can get elements together.
Kalogridis is going to kick off the script and Paramount is looking to have this one moving as soon as possible. Meanwhile, we all wait to see whether follow-up Wonder Woman 1984 sticks to its December release date.