First Actress to Make $1M
She was known as this seductive woman who had an affair with Julius Caesar and Marc Anthony. But the truth is, there’s so much more to her.
Cleopatra has been a sensation throughout history.
Film
In 1963, the historical epic drama from the 1957 book The Life and Times of Cleopatra based on histories of ancient scholars. Following an extensive casting search, Elizabeth Taylor signed on to portray the title role for a record-setting salary of $1 million. The estimated production costs totaling $31 million. The film became the most expensive film ever made up to that point and nearly bankrupted the studio. The cost of distribution, print and advertising expenses added a further $13 million to Fox's costs. Cleopatra premiered at the Rivoli Theatre in New York City in 1963. It became the highest-grossing film that year, earning $58 million, one of the highest-grossing films of the decade. It received nine nominations at the Academy Awards, including for Best Picture, and won four.
Taylor half-jokingly asked for a record-setting contract of $1 million ($10.8 million in 2024) plus ten percent of the box-office gross.
Gal Gadot's Cleopatra film is set to make waves as the actor believes it will "change the narrative" about the historical figure. Growing up in Israel, which borders Egypt, Gadot was familiar with Cleopatra's tales and found her to be a real and powerful female leader. If Wonder Woman is the imaginary strong female leader, Cleopatra’s actually the real one.
A separate project predicts Zendaya to play the leading role.
Resources:
Cleopatra is a 1999 miniseries adaptation of Margaret George's 1997 historical fiction novel The Memoirs of Cleopatra, nominated for an Emmy
