Two Familiar Faces Clash in the 'Those About To Die' Trailer
Iwan Rheon in "Those About to Die"
(Photo: Peacock)
It really was just a matter of time before streaming TV took the British-ish fantasy genre, hyper-fueled by Game of Thrones' smashing success, to the logical endpoint and circled back to the original British-accented fantasy trope that once dominated the big-budget landscape in feature films: the Sword-and-Sandal epic. Once defined by massive budget busters without a single stitch of CGI like Ben-Hur and Cleopatra, these films have been few and far between since Gladiator. But Peacock's Those About To Die is betting that there's still an audience for such things, and that with an influx of subscribers coming for the Olympic Games, now is the time to try it.
Peacock has weighted the odds in Those About To Die's favor not only by releasing the first episode ten days before the Olympics opening ceremony but with a cast full of recognizable faces. The series is headlined by the great Sir Anthony Hopkins, who pulls out his best Sir Laurence Olivier from Spartacus. (Fun fact! Hopkins did the overdubbing for late Olivier's lines in the 1990s restoration of the 1960s classic.)
But for those who might not appreciate their Sword-and-Sandal history, the series has a more recent pairing of actors for fans of the British-ish fantasy to appreciate, by pitting Iwan Rheon against Rupert Penry-Jones as high-born and low-born citizens fighting for power in Rome via the games.
Here's the official synopsis.
Those About To Die is an epic drama set in the corrupt world of the spectacle-driven gladiatorial competition, exploring a side of ancient Rome never before told — the dirty business of entertaining the masses, giving the mob what they want most…blood and sport. The series introduces an ensemble of characters from all corners of the Roman Empire who collide at the explosive intersection of sports, politics, and dynasties.
The series also stars Sara Martins (Death in Paradise), Tom Hughes (Victoria), Jojo Macari (Sex Education), Moe Hashim (Ted Lasso), Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson (Vikings: Valhalla), Rupert Penry-Jones (Our House), Gabriella Pession (Station 19), Dimitri Leonidas (Masters of the Air), Emilio Sakraya (Warrior Nun), David Wurawa (Shadow and Bone), Pepe Barroso (Gran Turismo), Gonçalo Almeida (Monte Clerigo), Eneko Sagardoy (Irati), and Romana Maggiora Vergano (There's Still Tomorrow).
Roland Emmerich wrote the series alongside Harald Kloser and Gianni Nunnari, based on Daniel P. Mannix's nonfiction book of the same name; Emmerich also split helming duties with director Marco Kreuzpaintner across the show's ten installments. All four are credited as executive producers alongside Stuart Ford, Lourdes Diaz, Miguel A. Palos Jr, Robert Rodat, Herbert G. Kloiber, Martin Moszkowicz, Oliver Berben, Jonas Bauer, Charles Holland, and Namit Malhotra.
All ten episodes of Those About to Die will premiere on Peacock on Thursday, July 18, 2024.
