Discotek Media is digging into the past for a new film to bring out with the 1970 anime production of Cleopatra, which features a lot of nudity. The distributor announced at Otakon 2019 that they picked up the right to the film with plans for a 1080p production in its original Japanese language with English subtitles for a Blu-ray release. That’s now been scheduled for an October 27th, 2020 debut priced at $24.95 where it’ll be in its original Japanese with English subtitles.
The release comes with an excellent extra in that Helen McCarthy has a commentary track for it. Additional extras include the theatrical trailer and an art gallery that hopefully contains the original cover artwork.
Directed by Eiichi Yamamoto and Osamu Tezuka, it’s based on the screenplay by Shigemi Satoshi and features Kou Kojima’s character designs.
The Japanese cast includes Chinatsu Nakayama as Cleopatra, Hajime Hana as Caesar, Nachi Nozawa as Octavian, Osami Nabe as Antonius, Kazuko Imai as Calpania, Mineko Yoshimura as Lybia, Nobuo Tsukamoto as Ionius, Susumu Abe as Cabagonis, Tsubame Yanagiya as Rupa, and Yoshiro Kato as Chief Tarabahha.
Plot Concept: From the far-flung future, to the year 47 B.C.
In a distant future where the threat of alien invasion looms, a trio of explorers make a startling discovery: the solution to their plight is buried somewhere in the affairs of Cleopatra, the woman who would be Queen of Egypt in Julius Caesar’s time. These stalwart travelers cast their minds back thousands of years, to a time when the Roman Dictator Caesar manages tenuous alliances that stretch from Iberia to Galatia. But Marcus Antonius and Octavian plot to kill Caesar; their secret weapon is Cleopatra, willful and seductive sister of the Pharaoh Ptolemy. The time travelers soon become swept up in intrigue, inhabiting the bodies of a young girl, a strapping gladiator, and a randy leopard. Will they find their answers? Will Caesar navigate the lethal, comically absurd politics of the time, and unite the ancient world under his thumb? Or will the enigmatic, sexy Cleopatra be the one to change the course of history.
