Anthony Hopkins to play Roman emperor in ‘Those About to Die’

Anthony Hopkins
| Photo Credit: Richard Shotwell

Veteran actor Anthony Hopkins has joined the star cast of Roland Emmerich’s Those About to Die gladiator series.

According to Variety, the Oscar winner will play Emperor Vespasian in the Peacock drama, which is being produced by AGC Television and is written by Oscar-nominated Saving Private Ryan writer Robert Rodat.

The project received a straight-to-series order from Peacock last summer. The show follows a cast of individuals from various facets of Roman life as they clash in the arena, which is set in the “complex and corrupt” realm of gladiatorial competition.

The project’s first significant cast member to be revealed is Hopkins. He will play Vespasian, a Roman emperor and outlaw from the countryside who ascended to the throne following victory in a violent 10-year civil war. According to an official synopsis, the elderly Vespasian is “despised by the Patricians jockeying for position in the Empire and looking to supplant his heirs to the throne the first chance they get.”

In addition to directing, “Moonfall” filmmaker Emmerich will also executive produce alongside Rodat. Herbert G. Kloiber, Martin Moszkowicz, Oliver Berben, and Jonas Bauer of High End also executive produce with Gianni Nunnari of Hollywood Gang and Harald Kloser of Street Entertainment. Lourdes Diaz, the chief content officer at AGC, and CEO Stuart Ford both executive produce.