The super spy Cleopatra Wong from Singapore, a character who appeared in a series of popular movies in the late 1970s, could return on television. The films include They Call Her Cleopatra Wong (1978).

Production company Beach House Pictures has acquired the character rights from actress Doris Young, who played the action heroine. She goes by the stage name Marrie Lee.

Jocelyn Little, managing director of the Singapore-headquartered company and one of the show's executive producers, says Wong "deserves a premium television series in the mould of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Jessica Jones or Orphan Black... She will be a complex woman with a personal life".

Beach House Pictures, which is behind reality-based shows like MasterChef Singapore (2018) and Raffles: Remaking An Icon (2018), about the iconic hotel, is putting together a team of writers. Development could take up to a year.

Ms Little says: "Cleopatra Wong is a Singaporean character and we are a Singaporean production company, so we want to make as much of it as possible in Singapore. Casting decisions are a long way off."

The news was announced at television content trade show Mipcom, in Cannes, France, on Monday.