Anthony Hopkins to in Gladiator Series ‘Those About to Die’

Variety.com: Anthony Hopkins has boarded Roland Emmerich’s gladiator series “Those About to Die.” 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.

Peacock handed a straight-to-series order for “Those About to Die” last summer. Set in the “complex and corrupt” world of gladiatorial competition, the show follows an ensemble of characters from all parts of Roman society who collide in the arena.

Hopkins is the first major cast member announced for the project. He will play Vespasian, a Roman emperor and rural upstart who claimed his throne after victory in a bloody ten-year civil war. An official synopsis describes the ageing Vespasian as “despised by the Patricians jockeying for position in the Empire and looking to supplant his heirs to the throne the first chance they get.”