Monday, December 1, 2008 at 3:09 pm
Rebuilt in a Day?
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Bruno Heller, creator of HBO's Rome (and now The Mentalist) wants to cap off the prematurely cancelled show with a final movie.
Necessary? Desired? I'd rather see the Deadwood movies, but no one's putting that option on the table. Rome, on the other hand, did achieve closure after its own fashion. Octavian became Emperor Augustus; the transition of Rome to empire was complete. I'd have liked to have seen more of the story, sure, but it did seem as good a point as any to put a period on the show.
Really, the shame of the show was not that it ended abruptly, but that--having had notice of its demise--it had to cram in so much story to get to a resolution in its final season:
"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."
Now, I would have loved to have seen those seasons. But given how much season 2 wrapped up, there's not much way of undoing that. Still, there is the whole rise-of-the-Messiah business, which we didn't get to. (The series introduced, but didn't have time to do much with, intrigues in Roman Palestine.) Who wants to cast Jesus?
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James Poniewozik writes TIME magazine's Tuned In column, about pop culture and society. Tuned In, the blog version, is about the stuff we used to call "TV," whether it's in your living room, on your computer or -- once the networks figure out the technology and line up the advertisers -- in your dreams themselves.
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Monday, December 1, 2008 at 3:34 pm
What exactly was HBO putting in the water coolers during that time when they axed Rome and decided that letting Milch abandon Deadwood for John From Cincinnati was a good idea?
Monday, December 1, 2008 at 4:12 pm
Awesome, I had stopped reminding you to give us a Rome wrap-up, and then Mr. Heller conveniently intervenes on my behalf.
Of course, first preference would have been to see several more seasons, but being that that is out of the question, I'd love to see a movie on the subject. Of course, I come at this as more of a fan of history than TV drama, and from that perspective the end of season 2 came nowhere near wrapping up all that was available. The most unsatisfying bit of the show to me was always Timon leaving Attia's service and contemplating an assassination of Herod- now I can see where that would have been an interesting lead into season five. I say bring on whatever is left over- the more Rome the better!
Monday, December 1, 2008 at 7:09 pm
"... Still, there is the whole rise-of-the-Messiah business, which we didn't get to... Who wants to cast Jesus?"
.
Hey, you know, Henry Ian Cusick ('Desmond' on LOST)played Jesus in the 2003 film 'The Gospel of John'-- I think he'd be great for the same in a 'Rome' movie, he's certainly proven his acting chops as Desmond and has an outstanding theater background.
Monday, December 1, 2008 at 11:17 pm
While it might have been interesting to do a Messiah season from the Roman point of view, will a movie do anything that the dozens of previous Messiah movies have not yet done?
Tuesday, December 2, 2008 at 10:09 pm
If they can get Polly Walker back as Atia, I am sooo there. But it won't be the same without Lindsay Duncan ("Atia of the Julii, I call for justice").
Sunday, December 28, 2008 at 9:08 pm
There is so much story to focus on, however the movie should focus on the interpersonal relationship between Augustus and Agrippa and be more of a psychological study of their relationship. Also, I would like to see more focus on Agrippa, his accomplishments, his loves, his motivations, and why he didn't unleash some serious whoop-ass onto Octavius for dissing him so.