Cleopatra with Joan Collins 1963

 

    Cleopatra was the movie 20th Century banked everything on and nearly went bankrupt in the process. It was to have Joan Collins in the titular role, Stephen Boyd as Mark Antony and Peter Finch as Julius Caesar. That however is not the movie that was made. Elizabeth Taylor was cast as Cleopatra and negotiated an extraordinary $1 million salary. Richard Burton was cast as Mark Antony. There was an immediate spark between them, so since they were already married to other people, the movie also led to two divorces. How different things might have turned out with the original cast.