Roman Revival: HBO Series Headed for Big Screen?

What? They want us back? 

HBO’s series Rome was never as big a hit as The Sopranos or Sex and the City, but nonetheless it was a solid performer that was also critically acclaimed. It had just one teensy problem–it was really, really expensive to make. The only thing that could justify that kind of money would have been the series turning into a Sopranos-like cultural phenomenon, and when it became apparent that that wasn’t going to happen, HBO cancelled Rome after just two seasons.

Now, though, Rome creator Bruno Heller (who’s getting on quite nicely with his new series, The Mentalist), tells The Hollywood Reporter that there is actually some talk of doing a feature film version of Rome.  He says, “There is talk of doing a movie version. It’s moving along. It’s not there until it is there. I would love to round that show off.”

The success of the Sex and the City movie has probably made this more of a possibility than it would have otherwise. Now Rome doesn’t have the kind of locked in fanatic audience SATC did that would turn out in droves on opening day; however, seems like it would be much more likely to cross over to the wider audience that eluded SATC.

So what would happen in a Rome movie? THR says:

“…the original series outline for “Rome” next called for the hedonistic Roman leaders to deal with the rise of a certain problematic rabbi — a story line that would have put a whole new spin on the Greatest Story Ever Told and potentially bring “Rome” a larger audience.

“I discovered halfway through writing the second season the show was going to end,” Heller said. “The second was going to end with death of Brutus. Third and fourth season would be set in Egypt. Fifth was going to be the rise of the messiah in Palestine. But because we got the heads-up that the second season would be it, I telescoped the third and fourth season into the second one, which accounts for the blazing speed we go through history near the end. There’s certainly more than enough history to go around.”

There certainly is. I never got into the show, though I know others who liked it. I think it’s also enjoying a decent life on DVD. But like I said, I think the best thing Rome would have going for it is that if it’s a reasonably well-done movie, it should attract people who never watched the series. Besides, post-300 we’re heading towards a kind of golden age of sword and sandal epics.