Gal Gadot's upcoming Cleopatra biopic just got a surprisingly promising update from its producer in the early stages of development.
Gadot was first announced to be playing the ancient Egyptian queen in December 2020, although the project has had its fair share of issues getting off the ground.
Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins was initially involved before leaving the movie to focus on her work with the DCU and Star Wars, and with Gadot's schedule being so jam-packed, Cleopatra remains at a stand-still.
Cleopatra Gets Surprisingly Good Update
Atlas Entertainment President and Warner Bros. producer Charles Roven provided a new update on Gal Gadot's Cleopatra movie during a chat with The Hollywood Reporter.
Roven confirmed that the film was actually making progress toward production before the Writers' Guild of America (WGA) strike, which halted any potential updates on the script.
Additionally, he reassured viewers that Cleopatra has a director in Kari Skogland, most recently known for her work on The Falcon and the Winter Soldier for Marvel Studios:
"It was. We moved it from Paramount to Universal, and Kari is still on it. It’s another one where we’re sitting in a stalled situation. We can’t really move the script forward because of the writers’ strike. Kari went off and did the 'Wind River' sequel, but she’s still attached to it."
When Will Cleopatra Go Into Production?
The best bit of information to take from this promising quote is that the Cleopatra movie is finally getting set to move into production, even though it still has a few obstacles to overcome.
First and foremost is the writers' strike that's keeping the new movie's script from being finished, which will only be compounded by the SAG-AFTRA strike that's moving forward concurrently.
There's a realistic chance that these strikes may not end until the end of 2023 or even the end of 2024, which would mean the script for Cleopatra wouldn't be complete until sometime next year.
On top of that is the potential concern that Gal Gadot's schedule may become pretty jam-packed, as she's already confirmed for a role in Disney's Snow White before the news that Wonder Woman 3 is also in the works for DC Studios.
For now, Universal will continue to put Cleopatra on hold until both of the strikes come to a resolution, with plenty of films already forced to go on hold until further notice.
