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Hope Yet for Storytellers: Rome Sweet Rome Film Deal

By Steven Lloyd Wilson | Posted Under Trade News | Comments (19)

Rome-Sweet-Rome-Reddit-Story.jpg

A few weeks ago, a comment thread on Reddit approached the very sensible question that has intrigued learned scholars for years: could a modern battalion of United States Marines conquer the Roman Empire. The comment thread resulted in one commenter posting an answer in story form. He then followed up and wrote additional comments until the story in progress reached ten single spaced pages. That’s the point when an entertaining comment thread turned into something legendary.

Madhouse Entertainment took notice and tracked down the commenter in question, James Erwin. They set up a few meetings in order to assess whether he would be able to write a full length screenplay, and discovered that he was already a published author of nonfiction. Said Erwin in a subsequent interview about the experience: “I’ve written two encyclopedias but no one options an encyclopedia.”

Madhouse then set about trying to sell the project and last week, Warner Brothers purchased the film rights to the screenplay. Adam Kolbrenner and Gianni Nunnari will be producing, though it is still too soon to guess on directors, actors or release dates.

So if anyone ever gives you trouble for time spent on Pajiba, just tell them that you’re working on your screenplay.

(sources: Huffington Post, ScreenRant)









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Comments

Posting this right after the crappy directors post should rip a hole in spacetime.

Thank you for dooming us all.

Posted by: Vermillion at November 14, 2011 10:21 AM

You wouldn’t even need to send in the Marines. The battalion of Starbucks and McDonald’s would do the job much more effectively. And at a profit too. Just send ‘em in and sit back and watch as the empire eats itself to death and disappears up its own collective arsehole.

Posted by: zeke the pig at November 14, 2011 10:27 AM

This reminds me of the Japanese movie Sengoku Jietai which was about a Japanese Self Defense Forces unit that was sent back to Feudal Japan. In the end the unit ran out of ammo and fuel and could not change history.

Posted by: Muteki at November 14, 2011 10:33 AM

I'm working on my screenplay with this comment? SLW, I appreciate your efforts to legitimize my efforts, when in reality the toughest thing I am working on right now is opening this can of vienna sausages.

Posted by: Donut Plains at November 14, 2011 10:34 AM

UPDATE: it's a tab-top can. I have since opened and freed the sausages. Mmmm...

Posted by: Donut Plains at November 14, 2011 10:37 AM

This sounds like it could be freaking great. Or a total disaster. It reminds me a bit of "The Final Countdown", the early 80's movie starring Kirk Douglas and Martin Sheen. In that one the modern Navy aircraft carrier USS Nimitz was accidentally sent back in time to just days before the Pearl Harbor attack. Once they figure out where they are they have to decide whether or not to intervene. It uses too much stock footage but it's worth tracking down.

Posted by: TylerDFC at November 14, 2011 10:43 AM

I have since opened and freed the sausages. Mmmm...

If only all meat-filled tubular shapes were worthy of such a reception.

Posted by: Vermillion at November 14, 2011 10:49 AM

Such as my Vienna sausage?

Posted by: , at November 14, 2011 11:14 AM

I'm not a fan of such Mr. , but I am sure yours would be quite impressive indeed.

Posted by: Vermillion at November 14, 2011 12:09 PM

This reminds me of the novel GRUNTS!. A part of an orc horde in an unnamed fantasy world stumbles over a cache of cursed modern day weapons in a dragon hoard. Cursed as in the orcs start to behave not quite like marines. Hijinks ensue. Also murder, rape, pillaging and burning (for which mostly two unimaginative halflings are responsible).

It's not a book for squeamish people.

Posted by: FabMax at November 14, 2011 12:16 PM

This sounds like it could be freaking great. Or a total disaster.

Pretty much life, innit?

Posted by: twig at November 14, 2011 12:17 PM

Signor , I should only hope that yours is not as small and squishy as the ones that came out of the can.

(Damnit! A scant week has passed since Master Overlord waxed poetic about the awesome commenters about the site, and I have so far made penis jokes on three different threads.)

Back to the post -- I am excited about this movie. I wonder how they will depict the differing fighting styles? The language barrier? Culture shock + fighting, yay.

Posted by: Donut Plains at November 14, 2011 12:51 PM

Uh, yeah this was done a coupla years back by writer Jonathon Hickman in his comic "Pax Romana".

Basically, Vatican scientists discover a way to send back a modern infantry battalion (with vehicle, air, and satellite support), so they do it in order to make sure that Catholicism becomes the predominant faith on the planet. Of course, shit falls apart and the timeline is skewed in unexpected (not necessarily all bad) ways.

Read more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pax_Romana_(comics)

Posted by: Mad Jack Deacon at November 14, 2011 2:17 PM

USMC vs. Roman Centurions

Wasn't this already covered in an episode of "Deadliest Warrior"?

Posted by: bleujayone at November 14, 2011 2:26 PM

This reminds me of the Japanese movie Sengoku Jietai which was about a Japanese Self Defense Forces unit that was sent back to Feudal Japan. In the end the unit ran out of ammo and fuel and could not change history.

Posted by: Muteki at November 14, 2011 10:33 AM

Yes but it wasn't quite as simple as that. They planned to make an alliance with a contemporary warlord, use their advanced technology to defeat his enemies then rely on the contemporary weapons to hold unto power. Unfortunately, politics during the Warring States period was more complicated that they imagined. But still, Sonny Chiba! Yeah!

Posted by: Ballymena Bob at November 14, 2011 2:31 PM

@fabmax

I have a theory about grunts: more people have read it than are willing to admit. Its probably all of the elf-rape.

Funny as hell, though.

Posted by: strtwise at November 14, 2011 6:28 PM

Good concept, kinda been done before.

Toss in zombies, robots, dinosaurs, and naked babes and it will make buck.

Of course it'll need a struggling high school rock band that teaches the Empire how to boogie.

Posted by: eman at November 15, 2011 2:30 AM

The book "Janissaries" had a similar theme.

In that case a group of modern mercenaries is transported by aliens to a planet used to grow illegal drugs. Every six hundred years the aliens blast the human slaves to shit and bring in a new bunch of slaves to grow the drugs. This time the humans have enough tech and scientific knowhow to catch the aliens by surprise in 600 years.

The similarity in part comes from the fact these new arrivals find Medieval and Roman cultures co-existing on the planet and teach a favored tribe how to beat the Romans.

Posted by: eman at November 15, 2011 2:38 AM

Suddenly, Batman appeared and ate everyone else's pie.

Posted by: Lucas at November 15, 2011 10:03 AM