One of the most infamous films of all time, Cleopatra took more than two years to film at a cost of nearly half a billion of today’s dollars due to its multiple directors, aborted shoots, thousands of extras and exorbitant spending. It nearly bankrupted 20th Century Fox, but went on to become the highest-grossing film of 1963, eventually winning four Oscars.

Elizabeth Taylor stars as Cleopatra, the cunning young queen of Egypt, who experiences triumph and tragedy as she attempts to thwart the imperial ambitions of Rome, only to meet her match in Roman General Mark Antony (Richard Burton). Could their passionate romance decide the fate of the world’s greatest empires?

Screening in its full 251-minute glory (including overture, entr’acte music and intermission), meticulously restored from the original 65mm negative, there is no better way to experience the decadent scale of this legendary epic than on the big screen as it celebrates its 60th anniversary.