The Colosseum roars back to life this summer with German director Roland Emmerich’s first official tryst with television, thanks to his ambitious new series Those About to Die . Set against the backdrop of the Flavian dynasty of the Roman Empire, this 10-episode spectacle premieres on July 18, just in time to whet appetites for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Celebrated for his mastery in large-scale, high-stakes filmmaking, Emmerich directs five of the episodes with his undiminished passion for storytelling.
Known for blockbusters like Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow , and 2012 , Emmerich’s signature style — marked by grandiosity, absurdly-scaled production, and a curious knack for depicting societal collapse — seems to have all the makings to elevate Those About to Die into a stunning and charged epic. The series, inspired by Daniel P. Mannix’s 1958 book and developed by Robert Rodat (the screenwriter behind Saving Private Ryan) offers yet another portrayal of the political and social intricacies of ancient Rome — Hollywood seems quite taken with the idea lately — through the lens of its most brutal and popular spectacles: the games.
A still from ‘Those About To Die’| Photo Credit:Peacock Emmerich’s ability to capture the chaotic beauty of the great civilisation in turmoil shines through in this series. He brings ancient Rome to vivid life, not just through the spectacles in the arena, but also through the personal and political dramas unfolding behind.
