It’s coming to Prime Video: In anticipation of Gladiator 2, how’s this peplum sequence from Roland Emmerich?

What is it about?

Rome 79 BC: The center of the Roman Empire is the richest city in the world and there is a massive influx of slaves from the expanding empire to work. The Roman populace—bored, restless, and increasingly violent—is kept in line by two things: free food and spectacular entertainment in the form of chariot races and gladiatorial combat.

Circus Maximus races are controlled by four patrician-owned corporations, the Blue, Red, White, and Green factions, and the actions of these four factions are the most valuable in Rome. As the populace’s taste for entertainment became increasingly jaded and bloodthirsty, a stadium designed for gladiatorial combat was needed: the Colosseum.

The scale of the stadium, gladiator and animal fights is huge, as is the underworld and its thriving gambling scene. Underground, under the stands, thousands of people work and live, including thousands who will die for the Games.

Based on Daniel P. On Manix’s book of the same name.

Who Will Die, a series created by Robert Rodati with Anthony Hopkins, Ivan Rheon, Tom Hughes, Sarah Martins…

What is this peplum series?

We didn’t expect such a meeting with him at all, but apparently nothing prevents Roland Emmerich – the master of the end of the world – who fights two new worlds for him who will die: serial and peplum.

With this monumental project, with a budget of more than 150 million dollars for its ten episodes, the German-American director immerses the audience in the brutal world of ancient Roman gladiators and chariot races during the reign of the emperor Vespasian.

Beautiful people in togas

The About to Die is set in a time when circus games and gladiator fights were at the center of Roman culture. The series follows several key figures, including the Emperor Vespasian, played by Anthony Hopkins, and explores the political intrigue and blood rivalries that characterized the era. Inspired by the book (unofficially) that influenced works such as Gladiator, the series aims to offer an authentic and spectacular view of the Roman Empire.

And for that, the cast includes a diverse cast. In addition to Anthony Hopkins as Vespasian, there are Ivan Rheon as Tenax, who runs betting operations for gladiator games and chariot races; Jojo Macari as Domitian Flavian, the plotting second son of Vespasian; Dimitri Leonidas as Scorpus, a champion charioteer or Franco-Portuguese actress Sarah Martins as Calla, a Numidian merchant (from North Africa) who wants to kidnap his children from the clutches of Rome.

Spectacular production

Independent production, outside the traditional scheme of orders initiated by channels or platforms, those who have died will not spare the means. And true to his love of disaster movies, Roland Emmerich wanted to set Rome at its peak.

So it’s fun to see the brand new Coliseum from the ground. But of course, despite the hefty budget, carefully designed sets and costumes, the series had to rely on special effects. And this is very often seen.

Most interestingly, The About To Die presents itself as an epic drama set in the corrupt world of gladiatorial contests, focused on spectacle, presented as a dirty business: entertaining the masses, giving the crowd what it wants most. … blood and sport.

In the midst of it all, his characters from the four corners of the Roman Empire face a harsh reality that includes staging a grand spectacle to fool the people, cynical policies of the powerful and dynasties that destroy everything in their path.