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Behind-the-Scenes of Roland Emmerich's Those About to Die at SDCC (WATCH)
Enter the arena for yourself: All 10 episodes are now streaming on Peacock!
It literally took a village to bring the action of Ancient Rome to life in Peacock's new gladiator series, Those About to Die (stream all 10 episodes right here). The NBCUniversal platform showed just how much effort went into the production with an exclusive behind-the-scenes featurette that debuted during Peacock's 2-hour showcase at San Diego Comic-Con Thursday.
Clocking in at three minutes, the video — which you can watch below — features testimonials from a number of cast and crew members, like director and executive producer Roland Emmerich, who was present for an SDCC panel discussion alongside cast members Iwan Rheon (Tenax), Sara Martins (Cala), Moe Hashim (Kwame), Jojo Macari (Domitian), Dimitri Leonidas (Scorpus), and Gabriella Pession (Antonia).
RELATED: The Real History of the Mount Vesuvius Eruption Explained, as Featured in Those About to Die
"I was always fascinated by the Roman Empire and I always wanted to do something with sports," Emmerich explains in the featurette. While he's often associated with big-budget disaster flicks like Independence Day and 2012, the filmmaker's first foray into the world of television doesn't hold back on his usual desire to tell an epic story that is large in both scope and scale.
Those About to Die went to great effort to recreate Ancient Rome, and it shows in every frame — not to mention the large ensemble cast fronted by two-time Oscar recipient Anthony Hopkins (playing Emperor Vespasian, the man who began construction on what we now know as the Colosseum). "You fall in love with these characters and because of that, I think we've got something really special," Emmerich concludes.
Go Behind-the-Scenes of Those About to Die in New Featurette
How to Watch Those About to Die
Enter the arena for yourself — all 10 episodes of Those About to Die are now streaming exclusively on Peacock. Emmerich directed five installments, with Marco Kreuzpaintner helming the rest.
RELATED: The True Story Behind Those About to Die: Where Fact Meets Fiction in Peacock's Epic Roman Saga
Based on the non-fiction book by Daniel P. Mannix, the show was developed for the small screen by Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Robert Rodat (Saving Private Ryan). Rodat, who previously worked with Emmerich on The Patriot and 10,000 BC, also serves as executive producer alongside Harald Kloser, Gianni Nunnari, Stuart Ford, Lourdes Diaz, Miguel A. Palos Jr., Marco Kreuzpaintner, Herbert G. Kloiber, Martin Moszkowicz, Oliver Berben, Jonas Bauer, Charles Holland, and Namit Malhotra.
The NBCUniversal platform currently offers two monthly subscription plans: Premium ($7.99 a month with ads) and Premium Plus ($13.99 a month with no ads and download access for certain titles). If you're a student, you can enjoy the Premium plan for just $1.99 for an entire year!
