Despite having quite literally been dead for thousands of years, Egyptian ruler Cleopatra remains more than capable of hogging the headlines for any number of reasons, as recent history has shown.
Netflix’s documentary series Queen Cleopatra almost sparked an international incident that saw the historical figure’s home country make its own rival program in protest, while the show itself was review-bombed into oblivion to end up as the platform’s worst-rated episodic original ever in terms of its Rotten Tomatoes audience approval rating.
Gal Gadot has been trying to steer her own version of the story out of development hell onto the big screen for years (which hasn’t been without its own backlash), and in an interview with Vogue, the Wonder Woman star outlined why she won’t give up until her Cleopatra comes to theaters.
“Israel borders Egypt, and I grew up with so many stories about Cleopatra, and she’s like a household name. You know, if Wonder Woman is the imaginary strong female leader, Cleopatra’s actually the real one. That’s a perfect example of a story that I wanted to tell because I started reading different books about Cleopatra, and I said, Wow, that’s fascinating. All I ever saw in regards to Cleopatra from film, was that she was this seductive woman who had an affair with Julius Caesar and Marc Anthony.
But the truth is, there’s so much more to her. This woman was so ahead of her time. Egypt and what Egypt was back then, was still futuristic to where we are today. I can’t say much. But to me, I’m so passionate to tell her story and to bring justice to this character, and her legacy and celebrate her and her legacy. We have a beautiful script, and I cannot wait to share this story with the world and change the narrative of Cleopatra simply being a seductor.”
Of course, the first – and most pivotal – step is actually making the thing. Versions of the project have been in the works for decades, with names including David Fincher, Angelina Jolie, Denis Villenueve, and Zendaya all being floated, while even Gadot’s iteration was first revealed to be a Patty Jenkins-helmed feature, before she departed to be replaced with The Falcon and the Winter Soldier alum Kari Skogland.
She isn’t giving up the ghost, though, but it remains to be seen if she’ll be the one to drag it across the finish line.