Who will be the next Cleopatra? Hunt is on for actress to play 18-year-old Egyptian Queen in new TV series
Beautiful, powerful, rich, famous and a string of high profile lovers - Cleopatra was the original celebrity.
Now a search is underway to find a young actress to play the 18-year-old Egyptian queen in a new TV series.
According to Deadline, the new show will be a 're-imagining' of the iconic pharaoh's life.
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Carry on Cleo: A search is underway to find a young actress to play the 18-year-old Cleopatra in a new TV series, a role most famously played by Elizabeth Taylor in 1963
Instead of depicting an 'arch seductress made famous by her affairs' with the likes of Julius Caesar and Marc Anthony, it will propose that these men were made famous because of her.
It claims this Cleopatra will be 'brighter, more intelligent, richer and a better administrator and ruler than the men of her time', and someone who understood he power of myth, and who was constantly reinventing herself to become one.
The show will be written and directed by Shekhar Kapur, a man familiar with historically powerful women: he directed Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth and its sequel, The Golden Age.
Instead of depicting an 'arch seductress made famous by her affairs' with the likes of Julius Caesar and Marc Anthony (as seen here in Vivien Leigh's 1945 version) it will propose that these men were made famous because of her.
High profile relationships: As in Sophia Loren's 1963 comedy Two Nights with Cleopatra, the queen is rarely depicted without at least one of her equally famous lovers
Powerful ladies: The new series will be directed by Shekhar Kapur, who helmed Cate Blanchett's Elizabeth. A new movie starring Angelina Jolie remains up in the air after the Sony email hack revealed exec infighting over who should direct
'Cleopatra is probably the most famous and the least known/understood figure in all of time,' India-born Kapur said. 'Her life will reflect a modern-day parable of our lives today.'
David Ellender, Chief Executive of producers Slingshot Global Media added: 'We couldn’t think of a better filmmaker than Kapur to tackle this subject. As he did with Queen Elizabeth, Kapur will reveal the human being behind the myth.'
The Queen of the Nile has been an idolised by Western culture for thousands of years, depicted countless times in art, poetry, film, TV, advertisements and video games.
The original Kardashian? The Queen of the Nile has been an idolised by Western culture for thousands of years, depicted countless times in art, poetry, film, TV, advertisements and video games. Here Kim Kardashian poses as her for a 2011 shoot with Harper's Bazaar
Perfect storm: Katy Perry paid homage in her recent Dark Horse, where she billed herself as Katy-Patra (missing the much better Cleo-Kat-ra pun)
Whoopi too: Cleo would have made a killing from ad royalties were she alive today
Vivien Leigh, Sophiea Lauren, Monica Bellucci have all played her on screen, but by far the most famous depiction is Elizabeth Taylor's 1963 film, Cleopatra.
Despite being the highest grossing film of the year, earning $57million (or $444million in today's money) it almost bankrupted 20th Century Fox due to its enormous production and marketing costs. Adjusting for inflation it remains one of the most expensive films ever made.
A new film starring Angelina Jolie in the lead role became the subject of very public scrutiny after the Sony email hack last year, which revealed a nasty row between Sony Pictures exec Amy Pascal and producer Scott Rudin, seemingly centered on the services of director David Fincher.
Although she was born in Egypt, the original Cleopatra was actually Macedonian Greek. Her alleged love child with Julius Caesar - Caesarion - became the last sole ruler of Egypt for just 11 days before he was executed by Caesar's heir Augustus, and Egypt became a province of the Roman Empire.
Playing a player: Most recently Linday Lohan played Elizabeth Taylor playing Cleopatra in Liz And Dick
Egyptian Idol: Monica Bellucci played the pharaoh in Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra, while Lyndsey Marshal did the same in the TV series Rome
Stonyt expression: Although she was born in Egypt, the original Cleopatra was actually Macedonian Greek, while her legendary beauty is believed to have been somewhat exaggerated throughout history
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3202597/Hunt-actress-play-18-year-old-Egyptian-Queen-new-Cleopatra-TV-series.html#ixzz3jCm5FiLk
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