Gal Gadot to Star in 'Cleopatra' Movie

Hollywood actress and 'Wonder Woman' star, Gal Gadot, can be quite a divisive figure in the region, so the news that she has been chosen to depict Cleopatra in an upcoming feature film is likely to cause quite the stir.

According to Deadline, Paramount Pictures won an auction for the rights to the film, which will see Gal Gadot reunite with 'Wonder Woman' and 'Wonder Woman 1984' director Patty Jenkins to create 'Cleopatra', with a screenplay penned by Laeta Kalogridis, who wrote for 'Shutter Island' and 'Alita: Battle Angel'.

Rumors over who would be the next Cleopatra in a Hollywood production had been stirring as early as 2011, when Angelina Jolie pushed to make the project a reality. At the time, Angelina Jolie was famous for blockbuster hits like 'Lara Croft: Tomb Raider' and 'Mr. & Mrs. Smith', but since then she became known for her filmmaking, producing dramas like 'First They Killed My Father' about the Cambodian civil war and 'The Breadwinner', which follows an Afghanistani girl under the Taliban regime. Last year, in 2019, there had been rumors that Angelina Jolie was competing with Lady Gaga for the coveted role.

Previous depictions of Cleopatra had been the topic of both prestige and controversy. Elizabeth Taylor took the role in the 1963 production 'Cleopatra', which was nominated for four Golden Globes and nine Oscars (four of which it won). To this day, the movie is known for being one the most expensive pieces of cinema to ever be made, and has since been repeatedly brought up whenever an Egyptian figure is portrayed by a white actor (remember 'Gods of Egypt' in 2016? Yeah, neither did we).

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