Barbra Streisand hasn’t been calling the shots on film since The Prince of Tides in 1996, but is looking to get back in the director’s chair for Catherine The Great, a biopic about the influential ruler of the Russian Empire from 1762 to 1796. Catherine the Great’s rule was a pivotal one in Russian history: after the assassination of her husband in 1762, Catherine came to power and began a process that would modernise Russia and turn it into one of Europe’s great powers.
Catherine ushered in a new age of thinking as she presided over the Russian Enlightenment; Russia expanded through conquest and diplomacy, beginning the colonisation of Alaska and building many new cities in Russia. All this and more makes her an icon of Russian history and a prime candidate for the latest royal biopic.
The script took the top spot on the 2014 Blacklist for unproduced screenplays and combine this with Streisand’s skill as a director (for which she has received multiple Oscar nominations and a Golden Globe) and the potential for an insightful and entertaining biopic is huge. Many, including the producers, will be expecting good things here, hoping that Streisand has the ability to bring one of history’s most influential women to life.
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