Roland Emmerich Heading To Mipcom To Present Footage Of Gladiator Epic ‘Those About To Die’

Max Goldbart
·2 min read
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EXCLUSIVE: Roland Emmerich is heading to next month’s Mipcom Cannes to present first-look footage from upcoming Gladiator epic Those About to Die.

AGC Studios and High End Productions will host an invite-only presentation on the first afternoon of the mid-October market, showcasing the footage along with a Q&A with the Godzilla auteur.

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The $150M Anthony Hopkins-starring series will launch on Peacock in the U.S. later next year but AGC boss Stuart Ford recently told Deadline the producers eschewed a “worldwide streamer type deal” when putting together the financial package. Prime Video has bought the show in a wealth of European nations and the free TV rights outside the exclusive distribution window are still being negotiated with various licensees across Europe, according to Constantin Film in August. Principal photography is nearly complete at Rome’s Cinecittà Studios and the show, which falls outside of SAG-AFTRA strike restrictions, is produced by AGC with Centropolis Entertainment, Hollywood Gang and Street Entertainment

Those About to Die stars Hopkins as Emperor Vaspasian during the height of the Roman Empire. The Roman population—bored, restless, and increasingly violent—is kept in line mainly by two things: free food and spectacular entertainment, in the form of chariot racing and gladiator fights. The races at Circus Maximus are controlled by four Patrician-owned corporations, the Blue, Red, White, and Green factions, and shares in the four factions are the most valuable things in Rome.

Alongside Hopkins, Iwan Rheon (Game of Thrones), Tom Hughes (The English, Victoria), Sara Martins (Tell No One, Death in Paradise) and Gabriella Pession (Crossing Lines) also star. Emmerich is directing with Marco Kreuzpaintner and the show is written by Oscar-nominee Robert Rodat (Saving Private Ryan).

The event is a big draw for Mipcom, which runs October 16 to 19 and is also featuring talks from the likes of Bob Bakish, Eva Longoria and Tencent’s Sun Zhonghuai.

Executive Producers on Those About to Die are Emmerich, Harald Kloser (2012, White House Down, Midway), Gianni Nunnari (The Departed, 300) who originally acquired the rights to the book, Herbert G. Kloiber, Martin Moszkowicz, Oliver Berben, Jonas Bauer, Stuart Ford, Lourdes Diaz, Charles Holland, Marco Kreuzpaintner and Robert Rodat. Emmerich, Kloser and Nunnari developed the show and brought it to AGC Studios.

In June, Deadline revealed that Independence Day director Emmerich had teamed up with the team behind the likes of World of Warcraft for a new Space Nation franchise.

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