We still haven’t seen Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman 1984, but her and star Gal Gadot are already preparing to team up again for another project. According to Deadline, Paramount has won the rights to a new Cleopatra movie from Jenkins that is being billed as an “epic” historical drama with a possibility for a “big female empowerment” angle given the women-led creative team (the project will be written by Laeta Kalogridis, whose credits include Shutter Island, Alita: Battle Angel, and… some other things we don’t have to mention, even if one of them does seem relevant here).
The idea for this project apparently came from Gadot herself and was fleshed out and pitched in a series of Zoom meetings, and Paramount apparently won because of a desperation to put together a big tentpole movie “as quickly as possible.” There’s no word on how/if this relates to any other films from Hollywood’s long history with Cleopatra, but Deadline does note that Sony and producer Amy Pascal have been developing a Cleopatra movie for years with directors like David Fincher and James Cameron being floated alongside potential stars like Angelina Jolie and Lady Gaga. Given the “as quickly as possible” talk, it sounds like Paramount’s going to try and get this in theaters before whatever Sony’s doing, assuming theaters still exist whenever this can safely be made. If this can ever safely be made. Everything after, say, early November seems like a big question mark.
Anyway, if you don’t already know the same basic premise of Cleopatra’s story, we suggest checking out a history book. She was pretty famous.