Make Way For Your Queen – Princess Diana Has Been Cast To Play Queen Cleopatra
Source: IMDb
Royal Upgrade
Wonder Woman means many things to many people, but the actor who plays her apparently harbors many layers of talent. The gifted Gal Gadot will be teaming up with the unstoppable Patty Jenkins again, only this time they’re aiming for a different kind of gold…Oscar gold.
A biopic is in the works for Gadot and Jenkins as they plan to make their own original “Cleopatra” movie, notably different from the one that starred the outstanding Elizabeth Taylor who set quite the benchmark for Cleopatra roles to come. And not to forget Claudette Colbert’s take on the mysterious yet popular Queen of the Nile.
Much Ado About Nothing
Source: IMDb
A recent online stir involved Gal Gadot and a certain “Imagine” video. In an interview with ‘The Hollywood Reporter’, Gal has shared how she had “nothing but good intentions.” Often have the tweets and posts of celebrities been misunderstood or taken out of context, sometimes intentionally.
In Gal’s own words, “I started it, and I can only say that I meant to do something good and pure, and it didn’t transcend.” The musical montage ran for all of two minutes and featured celebs like Pedro Pascal, Will Ferrell, Kristen Wiig, Sarah Silverman, Natalie Portman, Mark Ruffalo, Amy Adams, Jimmy Fallon, Jamie Dornan, Maya Rudolph, Zoë Kravitz, Sia, James Marsden, Leslie Odom Jr., Norah Jones, and a bunch of others.
While complaints of the video being ‘out of touch and inappropriately timed’ does indeed hold substance, the intentions from Gal and gang were entirely otherwise. The only major thing wrong about this video might well be the fact that Cheetah (played by Kristen Wiig) seems to be working with Wonder Woman (played by yours truly).
If you have not seen the official trailer for “Wonder Woman 1984” you are surely missing out on one of the finest most faithful comic-book character adaptations, a truth that especially applies to Wiig’s Cheetah.
No one could have ‘imagined’ how great that trailer turned out to be. Powerful vibes met brilliant character design. We can’t wait to catch this much-delayed movie that Director Patty Jenkins has promised will release in theatres on Christmas Day 2020. Now, imagine that.
The Mystery of Agatha Christie
It’s funny how everything is seemingly connected in the Universe. We get to see the patterns most succinctly through Art, one such being the movie “Death On The Nile”. An adaptation of any book from the unbeatable ‘Queen of Crime’, Agatha Christie, is always welcome.
The Kenneth Branagh directed film is based on Christie’s 1937 novel of the same name. Michael Green’s screenplay skills promise some fine thrills and chills. Essentially a follow-up (not a sequel per se) to another Agatha-adaptation, namely “Murder on the Orient Express” (2017), “Nile” feels all set to deliver yet another power-packed mystery.
Tom Bateman is ready to reprise his role as Monsieur Bouc. Meanwhile, the role of the unquenchable Hercule Poirot will be reprised by none other than the director himself, Kenneth Branagh. The man has proven to be a brilliant thespian as well as bold captain’.
The rest of the not-so-mysterious cast includes outstanding talents like Armie Hammer, Annette Bening, Jennifer Saunders, Russell Brand, Rose Leslie, Ali Fazal, Emma Mackey, Dawn French, Sophie Okonedo, and Letitia Wright, not to mention Gal Gadot (duh!).
This particular book has seen past adaptations thrice. The first time was way back in 1978 when the book was made into a movie. 2004 saw it gracing the TV screen as a series episode in “Agatha Christie’s Poirot”. Now, we get a modern version, which could lend new meaning to the phrase ‘third time’s the charm’, only in this case the charm could prove deadly.
The film wrapped production in December 2019. Locations included Longcross Studios (England) and of course Egypt. Theatrical release for the much-anticipated (by movie lovers and book fans alike) “Death On The Nile” is slated for 18th December 2020.
Looks like Gal Gadot has a double-date with the box office at year-end. Tis the season to be…a wonderful mystery.
The Queen of the Nile
It was almost serendipitous to see Gadot move from a mystery on the Nile to ruling it as its Queen. Her casting as the unmatched and cunningly powerful Cleopatra, in a biopic no less, has made fans and sundry thirsty to see the excellence that this hard-working real-life wonder-woman is going to bring to the silver screen wearing an entirely different sort of a crown.
This particular biopic has been fought over by production giants like Netflix, Universal, Apple, and Warner Bros. At the end of the joust, Paramount Pictures won the rights to the golden possibility of recreating the age of Cleopatra and the tragi-potent life of one of history’s most misunderstood queens.
As the last ruler of Egypt’s Ptolemaic Kingdom, Cleopatra left an indelible mark in the annals of history. We’re eager to see whom Patty Jenkins is going to cast in the roles of Julius Caesar and Marc Antony, both of whom played game-changing roles in Cleo’s life.
We have Laeta Kalogridis (of “Shutter Island” fame) donning the writer’s mantle for “Cleopatra”. Her flair for screenplay is sure to be as luscious as the grapes and pomegranates that Cleopatra once enjoyed.
The Case of the Lingering Mysteries
Will we get to see a historically accurate version of the popular Pharaoh? Or are we going to get another lavish and heavily dramatized story, much like the one that starred Elizabeth Taylor (in 1963), which nearly bankrupted 20th Century Fox (recently re-christened 20th Century Studios)?
And whatever happened to the ‘Cleopatra’ projects already in the Hollywood pipeline? Rumour has it that Sony is involved in one and that they had ideas to put either Angelina Jolie or Lady Gaga in the iconic lead role.
Paramount Motion Picture Group’s very own ‘Cleopatra’, namely its President Emma Watts, has gone to great lengths to remake the company’s image since her joining in June 2020. She, according to Variety magazine, has been “…encouraging her colleagues to get more aggressive in finding splashy material and urging them to think more creatively about reinvigorating tired franchises.”
Excitement is in the air, and mysteries are all set to unravel, just as the greatest pharaoh of them all comes forward to claim her birthright. May the might of the god Horus and the grace of the Mother Goddess Isis be with you, Cleopatra. Fans have just one request: ‘Don’t disappoint us.’