According to actor Kevin McKidd and the NY Post, there is definitely a film version of HBO's ROME in development. (And of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, but that's another post.) Fans of neck-stabbing and nubile-British-women-playing-nubile-Italian-women rejoice!
If you've never seen the show and wonder why this is exciting, watch the clip below to find out how much ass this show kicks just in the first three minutes of the pilot episode:
Now we've known that there was a ROME movie in development for at lest a year, but there's a few interesting tidbits to be extrapolated form this article. First there's McKidd's assertion that he'll be directly involved and that the movie will pick up right after the strongly-hinted but widely disbelieved "death" of his character Lucius Vorenus. That's interesting for two reasons-first because we've gotten confirmation from two separate sources that our dear Louie V, is still amongst the living instead of stomping balls in Hades, and second because it puts paid to any rumors that the film would be a prequel.
The second point will no doubt upset fans who miss series staples like Marc Antony, Cesar, and Brutus, but I'm personally glad they're not rifling through the series's crypt of dead characters. After all, to do so might undercut the extremely strong performances given in the original series, since we already know what happens to all these people. (Having said that, it would be almost worth it in order to be able to stare doe-eyed at Indra Varma for two hours.)
Also, since Vorenus is playing a part in the film, I'm going to go ahead and suggest series creator Bruno Heller's earlier plans to include Jesus in the film are off the table. Considering that the series ended after the Battle of Actium in 31 BC, and that Vorenus is portrayed as middle-aged at that point, our favorite tormented soldier would either be very old or very dead by the 4 BC birth of Christ. I don't know about you, but I don't see them hiring Kevin McKidd in order for him to hobble around on a cane.
I'm looking forward to this one. What do you guys think? Upset James Purefoy (who was in Solomon Kane, reviewed below) isn't coming back as Antony? Want to see a power struggle between Atia and Livia over who's the most malignant feminine influence behind Octavian's throne? Tell me in the comments.
Good Enough Movies: LEGEND (1985)
7 years ago
I have to admit, I was a bit disappointed about Vorenus not being dead. Of course I love him, and of course I was broken up at the end of the series, but having him die seemed like a good symbolic move. Vorenus's code of honor and insistence upon order made him a representative of an old Rome (under Julius Caesar), and when he died it felt like the last remnant of old Rome was gone and the new Rome (under Octavian) was fully established, for better or for worse.
ReplyDeleteI hope the movie has more Livia though. She was so delightfully and odiously unstable, and for that reason would be a great rival to Atia/Octavia, since the rules in her head seem completely different from everyone else's.