Summary
1963’sCleopatrawas a triumph at the box office, topping the charts for that year, but the four-hour epic still managed to be a complete financial fail. The film, which starred Elizabeth Taylor in the titular role, along with Richard Burton as Mark Antony and Rex Harrison as Julius Caesar, was steeped in controversy during its years of development. It seemed like everything that could go wrong did, and each mistake and scandal made the bill climb ever higher. By the timeCleopatrawas released in 1963, it had quadrupled its budget, making it virtually impossible for the box office to make up for it.
The idea for a massive, unlike-anything-anyone-had-seen-before movie about Cleopatra started with Walter Wanger (viaVanity Fair), a successful film producer who brought the concept toTwentieth Century Foxin 1958. At first, everything went as expected withCleopatra. Taylor was cast, Rouben Mamoulian was chosen to direct, and several other actors were selected to take on the various other roles. This was when everything began to go wrong. After delays and an entirely spent budget,Twentieth Century Fox had to basically start overwith a new director and massive recasts, rewrites, and refilms that all cost big bucks.
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What Cleopatra Was About
The Four-Hour Epic All About Egypt’s Most Famous Queen
The script forCleopatrawas adapted from the 1957 bookThe Life and Times of Cleopatraby Carlo Maria Franzero.It’s a story the world has long been fascinated with—the rule of the famed Egyptian queen, Cleopatra, and her alleged love affairs with first Rome’s Julius Caesar, then Mark Antony. It’s a tragic tale of betrayals, coups, murder, love, and suicide, andCleopatraheld nothing back. The film’s total runtime is 3 hours and 53 minutes, allowing the 1963 epic to cover every detail of the story, beginning withCleopatra’s partnership with Caesarto dethrone her little brother (and husband) Pharaoh Ptolemy XIII, who had previously pushed her out of Egypt.
Once Cleopatra successfully regained her throne inCleopatra, she married Caesar, and the pair dreamed of ruling the world together. Their combined heir, Caesarion, was formally recognized, and all seemed well—that is, of course, until the famed assassination of Julius Caesar. After this, Cleopatra instead began a love affair with Mark Antony, and the two joined forces against Octavian, Caesar’s adoptive son, who was selected as heir above Caesarion. After several lost battles and a few deceptions and misunderstandings, Antony commits suicide and dies in Cleopatra’s arms, who later kills herself as well.
Cleopatra Was A Big Box-Office Success In 1963
The Scandals Surrounding Cleopatra Drew Audiences To Theaters
Cleopatra has long been a mysterious and intriguing historical figure, so it’s no surprise that her dramatized story drew audiences to theaters. If the tragic seductress wasn’t enough, the notorious scale of the film would do it.Cleopatra’s massive runtime was bolstered by rumors of magnificent sets and harrowing performances, and the 1963 filmmanaged a whopping $58 million at the global box office. Adjusting for inflation would putCleopatra’s gross at about $484 million, which is still a fair success by today’s standard.
By the time Cleopatra hit theaters, the struggles and controversies faced during production were common knowledge, and critics and audiences alike were looking to see whether they deemed all the trouble worth it.
Cleopatrawas the top movie of 1963 by a good margin, and the film remained in the top 10 highest-grossing films for quite some time after. Critical reception was mixed, however. By the timeCleopatrahit theaters, the struggles and controversies faced during production were common knowledge, and critics and audiences alike were looking to see whether they deemed all the trouble worth it. The overwhelming conclusion seemed to be thatCleopatrawas just okay. This was ultimately reinforced by the fact that Twentieth Century Fox had lost millions on the project despite thefilm’s box-office success.
Cleopatra’s Budget & BTS Issues Explained - How Much Money It Lost
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Producer Walter Wagner had a grand vision forCleopatra, and it was clear from the beginning that it was going to be an expensive film. However, no one could have predicted how much Twentieth Century Fox would end up spending on the project. At the very early stages of production, the studio gave Wagner a budget of about $3 million to get the ball rolling—enough for 64 days of shooting with cast and director salaries. Another $5 million was added to cover Nigel Balchin’s script and a potential leading lady. Ultimately,Taylor very publically signed a deal for $1 million—more than any female actor had ever been paid.
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Shooting forCleopatrastarted in England, and this was the first of many expensive mistakes Fox made. An Alexandria set, which featured several 52-foot-tall sphinxes and covered 20 acres, was constructed for $600,000, only for the gloomy weather to make filming Egypt-set scenes virtually impossible. To make matters worse, Taylor became seriously ill with pneumonia and very nearly died before she made a recovery and resumed filming. Still, after several months of work,Cleopatrahad already gone over budget, losing $7 million and only completing 10 minutes of footage (none of which included Taylor).
After several months of work, Cleopatra had already gone over budget, losing $7 million and only completing 10 minutes of footage (none of which included Taylor).
Cleopatrawas already in over its head by the time Taylor recovered, but Fox decided to start over from square one. The leading lady was one of the few actors to remain with the project, and even a new director was brought in (Joseph Mankiewicz). The England set was scrapped, and filming was brought to Italy instead. The new sets were even grander than before, withthe Roman Forum replica reportedly ending up bigger than the real thing. Naturally, all of this costs an excessive amount of money. In the end,Cleopatracost $44 million to make, about $350 million today.
The outrageous cost ofCleopatrawas publicHollywood news in the 1960s, as was the behind-the-scenes drama of the project.Taylor very famously began an affair with Richard Burton, leading both to get divorced from their respective spouses. There were also frequent reports of drug and alcohol use, compounding the already disorganized state of filming. The cast would publically discuss the bizarre process of makingCleopatrafor years to come, describing it as a surreal and chaotic experience. Despite being the biggest movie of 1963, it took Twentieth Century Fox years to recover fromCleopatra.
In the end, it’s estimated that Twentieth Century Fox spent closer to $60 million onCleopatra(when taking into account expenses that aren’t typically reported within budget), which meansthe film’s $58 million box-office gross just didn’t cut it. It wasn’t until Fox soldCleopatra’s television broadcast rights for $5 million that it could be said thatCleopatrabroke even, and this didn’t happen until 1966—three years after it achieved the status of blockbuster and massive financial flop all in one.
Cleopatra
Cast
Cleopatra (1963) is an epic historical drama that chronicles the ambitious and tumultuous life of Cleopatra, the last active ruler of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt. Starring Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, and Rex Harrison, the film explores her relationships with Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, and her enduring struggle to protect her realm from the expanding Roman Empire.
