Twentieth Century Fox decided to make "Cleopatra" in mid 1959. Once Walter Wanger came on board as producer, Spyros P. Skouras, then-President of the studio after Darryl F. Zanuck's departure, ordered the movie to be made on a $300,000 budget and allowed six weeks to write the script and find a director, as well as four months to shoot. The plan was then to rush the movie to theaters as soon as possible. Wanger was also forced to cast the title role from amongst the Fox contract actresses. The producer was appalled by what Skouras demanded and protested. He had dreamt of making a movie about Cleopatra for years, and didn't want the project to turn into another "sword and sandal quickie." Wanger then hired Academy Award-winning production designer John DeCuir (Il re ed io (1956)) to create exotic, romantic concept sketches and models for presentation to Fox executives. Thanks to his spectacular display of intercorporate salesmanship, Wanger showed the executives, essentially, what they could have if they opened their minds. Where he saw beauty and vision in the movie, Fox executives saw the possibility for bigger profits. As a result, the movie was no longer considered a B-movie project. The budget had been increased to nearly $5 million and bigger stars would now be considered for the title role. Susan Hayward, Audrey Hepburn, and Sophia Loren were initially considered, but Wanger had another star in mind: Dame Elizabeth Taylor.

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