One of the shows that is really high on my ‘to-watch’ list is HBO’s Rome. I have friends who were seriously devoted to it, and practically thrust the blu-ray set into my hands whenever possible. The wildly expensive show was canceled after the second season, and while quite a lot of story was crammed into the last set of episodes, there is material yet to cover. (Big surprise, right? It’s Rome, after all.)
Over a year ago we heard that the show’s creator Bruno Heller was interested in doing a feature film Rome sequel, but we haven’t known much about it. We still don’t know much now, but there are a few interesting details bubbling up. Read More »
Fans of HBO’s historical epic series Rome may soon have a reason to give their DVDs a rest. It seems that creator Bruno Heller is interested in revisiting the series as a theatrical film. Heller, who is currently helming The Mentalist on CBS, told THR earlier today that he’d love to wrap up the storyline that was cut short due to the show’s cancellation.
Despite getting decent ratings and several awards, the show was cancelled in the middle of its second season of production. With some estimates putting the budget of the show’s first season at around $100 million, it’s not surprising that HBO couldn’t stomach a third season (honestly, I’m grateful we even got a second). Heller ended up squeezing several seasons worth of plot into the show’s second season. One storyline, involving a certain Jewish messiah, didn’t make it into the series at all and could easily be adapted to film.
TV-to-film adaptations are becoming all the more common these days, but thus far I believe Sex and the City has been the only truly successful one. Serenity, while popular among fans, was a failure financially—and let’s not even get into what happened with the latest X-Files film. Unlike Rome, however, Sex and the City was a pop-culture phenomenon that had legions of fans waiting to make the film a success. Rome was popular among critics, but I don’t believe a “Rome” branded film would really draw the same sort of crowds based on name alone.
I want to believe in this film, but given that it would need a budget massively beyond that of Sex and the City, I think Heller is ultimately setting himself up for failure. Still, I’d kill to see Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo getting into all sorts of mischief again. Hopefully, I’m not the only one.
Discuss: Do you think Rome could make the transition to the big screen? How do you feel about tv-to-film adaptations in general?
Source: THR via Cinematical
