God this thing is awful

Loaded with stars and Roddy McDowall almost got an Oscar.

Wrong:

"Widely regarded as one of the biggest flops of all time, reality is quite different: the film made its money back despite the horrendous costs, but not all at once - it took several years. It was one of the highest grossing films of the 1960s."

"In 1966, ABC-TV paid 20th Century-Fox a record $5 million for two showings of the film, a deal that finally put the picture into the black."

"When the film finally broke even ( due to the $5 million sale to TV ), 20th Century-Fox "closed the books" on "Cleopatra", therefore keeping secret all future profits from the film, to avoid paying those who might have been promised a percentage of the net profits."

The $44,000,000 that 20th Century Fox spent making this (in 1962) would be worth about $300,000,000 today.

It nearly bankrupted Fox Studio until the box-office revenues started to come in.

To stay solvent they had to sell off some of their backlot — which eventually became Century City.

It finally hit the "break-even" point in 1966 when the ABC TV network paid $5,000,000 (yet another record) for permission to show the movie twice. (At that point Fox "closed the books" on it because they'd agreed to pay La Liz a percentage of the gross. By 1966 they'd already paid her $7,000,000.)

Do you remember when Cleopatra went to the Temple of Ra to lead a few cheers?

I'm trying not to be offensive, really... but that's gotta be one of the stupidest comments I have ever read. The "fact that it was the highest grossing film for 1963 makes no difference" part makes no sense at all. To tank at the box office has nothing to do with the studio recovering its investment but with how well it actually does at the box office. If it was the HIGHEST GROSSING FILM of its year, then it's painfully obvious that it didn't tank. The problem is that DESPITE being a box office hit the studio was still losing money because it cost so much. Being a box office hit and being a profitable movie doesn't always go hand in hand and this film proves it.

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/BoxOfficeBomb/CThroughD

Cleopatra (1963) — Budget, $44 million. Box office, $57,777,778. This was the highest grossing film of 1963. However, 20th Century Fox only got roughly half the film's box office take (the rest went to the theaters), and since $44 million was an exorbitant price tag in 1963's dollars (equivalent to $325.6 million today), they nearly went bankrupt and had to sell off parts of its huge backlot (which turned the remnants of the sold parts to what became known as Century City). Fox was only saved when Julie Andrews's The Sound of Music became a success. Cleopatra’s Troubled Production (which included production being delayed for months when star Elizabeth Taylor got critically sick) and ultimate failure were among the decisive moments in the Fall of the Studio System, and the film was considered the example of failure for decades afterwards, only turning a profit for the studio in the '90s thanks to VHS and DVD sales. It only took 30 years! Cleopatra would be the last time director and co-writer Joseph Mankiewicz would be associated with Fox, and he only wrote one more film 4 years later, though Mankiewicz would continue to direct until 1972, when he retired (he considered Cleopatra an Old Shame and had tried to get his name off the credits). This is also the last film to involve producer Walter Wanger, who died 5 years later, and killed the Sword & Sandal genre's A-level until DreamWorks and Ridley Scott's Gladiator in 2000.

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/TroubledProduction/Film0ToL

The film finally staggered into cinemas in June 1963, with a final production cost of $44 million (over $300 million adjusted for inflation) - money Fox knew it had little chance of recovering. Despite lukewarm reviews from critics and audiences, the film had the highest box office take of 1963 and was nominated for nine Oscars (including Best Picture), winning four,note but it would not break even until ABC paid $5 million for two television screenings in 1966 (at the time, a record fee for film broadcasting rights). The already financially troubled 20th Century Fox almost went bankrupt, selling parts of its studio lot and needing the successes of such films as The Longest Day and The Sound of Music to offset their losses. Cleopatra also killed interest in the sword and sandal epic genre for nearly a generation, and was a key factor in the disintegration of the old "studio system", as studios passed responsibility for production costs to independent production companies instead of handling said costs themselves.

Oh nonsense! Elizabeth Taylor is spectacularly beautiful and an incredibly good actress. She had a woman's figure and not a stick-thin body. Rex Harrison and Richard Burton's acting was superb and I recommend watching the DVD in its entirety, in one sitting, to get the whole picture.

Tell it.

Rex Harrison was embarrassing to be honest.

certain entire characters who where never cast and thus we can assume where not going to part of any version, even thou they played important roles in these events.

Arisone and Herod The Great among others.

"It's not about money.... It's about sending a Message..... Everything Burns!!!"