What did Cleopatra look like? This question has long preoccupied researchers around the world, but it will probably never be answered. Because there are hardly any images from her life, most of them were made later. And those from their time are only schematic, and images on coins and statues, for example, are not suitable for drawing conclusions about the skin color of the legendary personality, which has recently been particularly discussed.
Most recently, the Netflix documentary series “Queen Cleopatra” received a real shitstorm and became – partly due to targeted devaluation – the worst Netflix series to date on various rating platforms, because those responsible dared to cast the character for the game scenes with a black actress . Skin color was already an issue for Elizabeth Taylor in the legendary Hollywood epic “Cleopatra” – evidenced by the fact that the white actress sometimes wore quite dark makeup.
It will certainly be another defining topic in the upcoming Cleopatra movie starring Gal Gadot – but let’s put the absurd discussion behind us for now. Because the commercial of the film that has been circulating on the internet for a few days is about something completely different: it is about a poster.
Poster for “Cleopatra” featuring Gal Gadot: mockery for another reason
First to the movies. Hollywood has been wanting to create another Cleopatra epic for years. Angelina Jolie was on board as the lead actress for a long time before the “Wonder Woman” duo of director Patty Jenkins and Gal Gadot took over. Jenkis later retired as producer, with Kari Skogland (“The Falcon And The Winter Soldier”) reportedly set to direct. Laeta Kalogridis (“Shutter Island”, “Alexander”) is said to have developed the screenplay in close collaboration with lead actress Gadot.
It is not yet known when the project will be shown in cinemas. But A poster announcing a theatrical release for summer 2025 has been circulating for a few days now. The poster has been widely shared. On the IMDb platform, it is even reported as an alleged movie poster. And one thing in particular stands out. Since Cleopatra has Macedonian-Greek origins – albeit going back generations – and was the last Egyptian queen of this dynasty, the film’s title is in Ancient Greek on the poster. But the characters don’t make the movie title at all.
The poster reads “CLSORDTRD”, explains Swedish historian Ida Östenberg in a tweet that has been viewed more than 260,000 times (it actually says “CLSORDtRD”). It’s not the only tweet with that exact statement that has gone viral. The short message service contains dozens of similar messages, some of which are very mocking, and then hundreds of comments.
Some also wonder what the cross-like “T” is all about.
Is the poster official?
The spot is there and it is of course mainly aimed at the film team. But that’s probably not the hotels fault. The poster looks very official and is also considered by many to be an official teaser poster. That’s where the timing comes in. The film market is currently in Cannes, where many upcoming projects are presented – and often in the absence of already shot scenes and thus trailer material through posters. However, according to our research, that is not the case here.
It appears – admittedly a very well-made – fan poster, which someone uploaded to IMDb. There you can contribute data and content with a simple registration. Fan-created and fake content is often removed quite quickly after review, but that hasn’t happened here so far. For example, plenty of other fake posters have been uploaded to “Cleopatra”, which are much easier to spot as fan creations. A poster features logos for Marvel and the DCEU, and the statement “Marvel vs. DCEU” is also hidden in characters.
So when Cleopatra starring Gal Gadot sees the light of day in the next few years, there will very likely be a completely different lettering for the title that doesn’t make the same mistake. However, one can bet that there is much debate over whether the Israeli actress is a perfect fit for the legendary Egyptian queen, who is of Macedonian-Greek descent but had Persian and possibly Syrian influence in her direct ancestral line.