By Stone Martindale Dec 13, 2006, 10:50 GMT
Not since the great Cleopatra epic filmed in the early sixties has so much anticipation been created on which actress will play Elizabeth Taylor's role as the fated Egyptian Queen in the upcoming remake.
The queen of the Nile is to return.
Writer Stacy Shiff is on board for the project and writing a biography on the famous Queen to be released in 2009. Schiff's other works include her 2000 Pulitzer Prize winning "Vera" about the wife of Russian-American author Vladimir Nabokov.
Columbia Pictures, a Sony subsidiary, has bought the rights to the film version of author Stacy Schiff's book on the life of the Egyptian queen, according to Variety.
"The last time Hollywood tackled 'Cleopatra' in a big way, the result was one of the most expensive films ever, a 1963 symbol of decadence best remembered for a torrid affair between Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, who were married to others at the time," Variety wrote.
The film, with Taylor playing the title role and Burton starring as Marc Antony, cost $286.4-million (adjusted for inflation) and nearly sank the 20th Century Fox studio. But it more than paid for itself, reeling in $377.6 million on the American market, according to figures published by Forbes magazine last year. Allegedly Shiff's outline for the Cleo project intends to dispel the movie myths that focused on pageantry and Cleopatra's skills as a seductress.
"[The] book will present her as a firm ruler and military tactician who embarked on a ruthless rise to power. Cleopatra twice married brothers, killing each of them as well as a sister. Romantic alliances with the much-older Roman honchos Julius Caesar and Marc Antony helped her solidify power, but her dalliance with Antony undid both of them" reports Variety.
In 1958 English actress Joan Collins was initially cast in the title role, but she became unavailable. Susan Hayward was also picked as a possible actress for the role. Audrey Hepburn was next, and was considered as a replacement by producer Walter Wanger. That didn't fly, so Wanger offered the role to Elizabeth Taylor.
Filming the epic commenced in 1960. It was one of the highest grossing films of the 1960s. According to the late director (he was fired during the editing/post-production phase) Joseph L. Mankiewicz in a past interview, many of the film's best scenes were cut, and between 90 and 120 minutes of character development and story were missing.
Legend has it while on set for ‘Suddenly, Last Summer,’ Taylor got a call from Wanger, and jokingly replied to his request (delivered by then hubbie Eddie Fisher), "Sure, tell him I'll do it for a million dollars."
Wanger agreed, and in October 1959 Taylor became the first Hollywood star to receive $1 million for a single picture.
In the pre eBay days, it is alleged that Rome's Cinecitta studios employees filched props and stole several millions of dollars worth of equipment while production took place there.
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