Sony Pictures has called this film their Gone with the Wind (1939) project as it's being held in the highest regard. They call it this because of the film's potential sheer scope in scale of its story and setting. Sony has compared the project to Gone with the Wind (1939) and Titanic (1997). Hence, for originally wanting James Cameron to helm in its early development stage.
Ang Lee was attached to direct this film for a couple of years but the project never got out of "development hell" for various reasons. Lee officially dropped out in 2015 to do other film projects.
Daniel Craig, Brad Pitt, and George Clooney were all at one point mentioned for the lead male role.
This film version shouldn't be mistaken for the film being produced by Paramount Pictures with director Patty Jenkins and leading actress Gal Gadot as Cleopatra. This particular film version from Sony Pictures is based on the historical biography, "Cleopatra: A Life" by Pulitzer Prize winning author, Stacy Schiff, while Paramount's film is co-producer Gal Gadot's interpretation of Cleopatra's life.
Denis Villeneuve is expected to be doing this film after Dune (2020) [and its potential sequel]. Whether that happens or not is up for debate since the film has been on other filmmakers' slates in the past as plans ended up falling through for them. Only time will tell if Villeneuve is the one to get the project finally out of "development hell".