‘Those about to die’, the new gladiator series by Roland Emmerich with Anthony Hopkins and Eneko Sagardoy

The German director Roland Emmerich prepares a new project. Now it is a series, in which it will have an international cast. And among those signings is the actor Eneko Sagardoy.

Along with the 29-year-old actor, other popular faces like the one we met thanks to the ‘Game of Thrones’ series will be in this large cast: Iwan Rheon, who was Ramsay Bolton in the HBO series, has also been signed for this blockbuster. They are joined by seven other names within the cast of this epic gladiator-centric story produced by Peacock, ‘Those about to die’.

Sagardoy, who won the Goya for Best New Actor in 2018 for ‘Handia’, and who has achieved popularity with the series ‘Patria’, now it is in theaters with the film ‘Irati’directed by Paul Urkijo, and which last week became the highest-grossing film shot in Basque in history.

This is how the actor himself announced his international leap on his personal Twitter account:

The history of the series is based on the homonymous book by Daniel Mannix, which was translated in Spain as ‘Brief history of gladiators’. The text that brings us closer to those prisoners who had to put on their armor and throw themselves into the arenas of the Colosseum, thus being the protagonists of the great show that Roman citizens attended.

As Deadline explains, the television project is billed as an epic drama set in the complex and corrupt world of gladiators driven by the spectacle of ancient Rome. The series is produced by High End Productions and Wildside Productions of Italy.

Emmerich, in charge of big blockbusters such as ‘Independence Day’ and ‘The Day After Tomorrow’, is in charge of directing together with Marco Kreuzpaintner, with Robert Rodat (‘Saving Private Ryan’) as the series’ scriptwriter. Executive producers include Gianni Nunnari (‘The Departed’), Harald Kloser (‘2012’), Herbert G. Kloiber, Martin Moszkowicz, Oliver Berben and High End’s Jonas Bauer, as well as Charles Holland (‘Black Lightning’) and Ford and the creative director of AGC, Lourdes Díaz.

Who is in the cast of ‘Those About To Die’?

Anthony Hopkins will play Vespasian, the Emperor of Rome and head of the Flavian lineage. Sara Martins and Dimitri Leonidas have already been cast in key roles. Rheon has been cast as the ambitious crime boss Tenax and will replace actor Lorenzo Richelmy, who withdrew due to scheduling issues. The actor has been seen in ‘The Magic Flute’ and has appeared in ‘Misfits’ or ‘The Dirt’, which is on Netflix.

Also joining the cast is Liraz Charhi, (‘Tehran’) who will play Berenice, queen of the conquered Judea, held captive in Rome. Johannes Haukur Johannesson (‘Vikings: Valhalla’) plays the imposing Nordic gladiator Viggo , Rupert Penry-Jones (‘Spooks’) as Marsus, a wealthy patrician and retired general who wants the throne.

Along with Sagardoy will also be the Spanish actor Pepe Barroso (’45 revolutions’) and Gonçalo Almeida (‘Esperança’). The three play the Corsi brothers, while Kyshan Wilson (Viola) plays Aura, a gladiator-in-training. Alicia Edogamhe (‘Summertime’) plays a slave who is sold to Marsus and Antonia (Gabriella Pession).