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Reddit Thread 'Rome Sweet Rome' Being Turned Into Feature Film By WB

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E

Expendable.

Member
1. Guy writes story on Reddit.
2. Warner Bros. turns it into feature film.
3. ??
4. Profit.

Variety reported the news, but if you don't have access to the paywall, I wrote it up here or posted below.

Rome-Sweet-Rome-Reddit-Story.jpg



Here's one way to make it as a screenwriter: apply online.

Warner Bros. has preemptively purchased the high-concept pitch "Rome, Sweet Rome" from first-time scribe James Erwin, an author and two-time "Jeopardy!" champion from Des Moines, Iowa.

Erwin's pitch sale came about as a result of several postings on the website Reddit.com, an online community and social news aggregator where users vote to determine which posts land on the site's home page.

Erwin set out to answer the question: "What if a unit of current U.S. Marines are suddenly transported back to ancient Rome and forced to do battle with the Roman legions?" Pic will follow the Marines as they're flung into the past where they encounter one of the world's most legendary villains and disrupt history. To return home, they have to set history back on the track they altered.

Madhouse Entertainment's Adam Kolbrenner spotted Erwin's "Rome, Sweet Rome" posts once they reached the top of Reddit and moved quickly to contact the writer and begin working with him to develop the concept. When it came time to find a home for the project, Kolbrenner brought it to WB's Chris Gary, a young exec who encouraged the studio to move aggressively to acquire it.

Kolbrenner will produce with Gianni Nunnari ("Immortals") of Hollywood Gang, where John Ridley will oversee the project for the company. Madhouse's Robyn Meisinger will exec produce and Gary will shepherd the project for Warners.

Erwin's next book, due in 2012, chronicles the history of U.S. military actions. He's repped by Madhouse Entertainment and attorney Bruce Gellman.
Click to expand...

Read the initial story at the links (Day 1-7; Day 7, Part 2 and Day 8) or all in one format (PDF). Check out the subreddit community as well for all things related to Rome Sweet Rome.
 
B

backflip10019

Member
"What if a unit of current U.S. Marines are suddenly transported back to ancient Rome and forced to do battle with the Roman legions?"

Whoever wins... the U.S. Marines will win.
 
M

Menelaus

Banned
So the marines kick ass in the beginning, but then their helis run out of fuel and they run out of ammo and get slaughtered, roman warrior style?

Also, Marines don't use the Blackhawk, that's an Army thing, so unless this movie is about the Nighthawks from Quantico, NO SELL.
 
S

survivor

Banned
I remember reading this reddit thread when it posted. Adapting it to a movie would have been the last thing I would have thought of.

It will probably be a big bomb.
 
K

Krev

Unconfirmed Member
I thought this up when bullshitting with friends back in the seventh grade. No joke.

Except I kept pushing it and the concept got better and better. Like, 'what if a lone tank and its operators were sent back to ancient Rome?', or 'how long could an 18 wheeler hold out against the Roman legions?'
 
T

TheSeks

Blinded by the luminous glory that is David Bowie's physical manifestation.
Well, you already spoiled yourself in the poster, reddit! WAY TO GO! The choppers would just mow down people for a bit and then mow down anyone that tried to get close with the guns until out of ammo.

Unless the guns don't work because LOL TIME WARP.
 
M

Menelaus

Banned
Krev said:
I thought this up when bullshitting with friends back in the seventh grade. No joke.

Except I kept pushing it and the concept got better and better. Like, 'what if a lone tank and its operators were sent back to ancient Rome?', or 'how long could an 18 wheeler hold out against the Roman legions?'
Click to expand...
You should have made a stupid post on a stupid website, you could have been rich, man!
 
R

Revenant

Member
AbsoluteZero said:
If getting movie ideas from Reddit becomes a trend, the next few years are going to be pretty fucked up in Hollywood.
Click to expand...

All actual jokes and witty dialogue will be replaced by second rate memes.... and we will all suffer
 
M

morningbus

Serious Sam is a wicked gahbidge series for chowdaheads.
I should add, if WB is interested, I have a similar premise for a movie: Man vs. Animal. It begins simply enough, a man awakes to find he is in a room with no less than 30 frenzied ferrets. Once he escapes, he discovers that that all the world's animals have been infected with a virus that causes them to become violent death machines thirsty for human blood. Our unnamed hero fights progressively deadlier animals, like a wolf, a lion, an elephant, and a dolphin, until he discovers the source of the outbreaks: Farmstead Pharmaceuticals.

He arrives at their headquarters, and as he ascends, he is attacked by deadlier and deadlier primates. Using his superior human intellect and firepower, he finally arrives at the penthouse to face his ultimate enemy: Man.

I'll accept your 9 dollars for advanced tickets now.
 
C

Casp0r

Banned
This is almost as bad as that stupid CGI clip about a city that gets invaded by aliens and got some guy movie rights ...

There is plenty of talent already out there in Hollywood just begging for a chance ... why are these movie executives trawling the internet for crap?
 
K

Krev

Unconfirmed Member
Menelaus said:
You should have made a stupid post on a stupid website, you could have been rich, man!
Click to expand...
I know, man! But then again, the studios weren't sinking so low in searching for IP back then. This was long before talk of Ruiks Cube: The Movie, the Universal-Hasbro deal or Asteroids rights being acquired for millions. So maybe not.
 
N

Neuromancer

Member
Erwin set out to answer the question: "What if a unit of current U.S. Marines are suddenly transported back to ancient Rome and forced to do battle with the Roman legions?" Pic will follow the Marines as they're flung into the past where they encounter one of the world's most legendary villains and disrupt history. To return home, they have to set history back on the track they altered.
Click to expand...
How are you guys reading this and not thinking, this is fucking awesome?

Dumb yes, but still awesome.
 
A

Alpha-Bromega

Member
is this the crest of the Hollywood bankruptcy before it collapses in on itself and we see a revolution akin to the studio system falling or what? i'm being serious, film buffs
 
Hari Seldon

Hari Seldon

Member
TheSeks said:
Well, you already spoiled yourself in the poster, reddit! WAY TO GO! The choppers would just mow down people for a bit and then mow down anyone that tried to get close with the guns until out of ammo.

Unless the guns don't work because LOL TIME WARP.
Click to expand...

Choppers aren't going to last very long without gas. And ammo doesn't last forever. Once that shit runs out the marines would get slaughtered easily as any Roman soldier is about 100x more deadly than a modern marine in hand to hand combat.
 
A

Avocado

Member
Casp0r said:
This is almost as bad as that stupid CGI clip about a city that gets invaded by aliens and got some guy movie rights ...

There is plenty of talent already out there in Hollywood just begging for a chance ... why are these movie executives trawling the internet for crap?
Click to expand...

Because the original thread, and subsequent 'days' got upvoted to the moon. I'm sure if the other talent in Hollywood had gotten the same kind of exposure, they too would have been contacted about turning their stories into movies.
 
R

Revenant

Member
Neuromancer said:
How are you guys reading this and not thinking, this is fucking awesome?

Dumb yes, but still awesome.
Click to expand...

read the source material man, it definitely is dumb..but lacks any awesome.
 
B

bjb

Banned
"What if a unit of current U.S. Marines are suddenly transported back to ancient Rome and forced to do battle with the Roman legions?
Click to expand...

They (Roman Legions) would be annihilated and gunned down in a matter of minutes.

Might as well make a plot about Marines attacking youth camps. Sans some creepy love story.
 
A

Alpha-Bromega

Member
ThisWreckage said:
I smell a major recruitment tool.
Click to expand...

DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN

YEAAAAA

DUN DUN DUN DUN

YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

*cue godsmack*


Plus thematically it's kind of silly, Americans go back in time to kill the equivalence of Americans? In reality they'd join swords and fight the dirty non-English speaking Carthaginians or something
 
T

TheSeks

Blinded by the luminous glory that is David Bowie's physical manifestation.
blame space said:
This summer

SpinDashing IS

Having a Birthday
Click to expand...

We already know the twist here.
He trips and dies, as death moves a counter on his abacus one year closer to death... it's the last one.

Hari Seldon said:
Choppers aren't going to last very long without gas. And ammo doesn't last forever. Once that shit runs out the marines would get slaughtered easily as any Roman soldier is about 100x more deadly than a modern marine in hand to hand combat.
Click to expand...

True. Depends on when they get warped to wreck havoc.

And plot twist! The marines learn how to fight hand-to-hand with the savages they were killing before and it's a feel good movie for the year because we learn we're all different yet same on the inside!
 
A

Alpha-Bromega

Member
Hari Seldon said:
Choppers aren't going to last very long without gas. And ammo doesn't last forever. Once that shit runs out the marines would get slaughtered easily as any Roman soldier is about 100x more deadly than a modern marine in hand to hand combat.
Click to expand...

not individually, they'd be on par or in fact most Marines in hand to hand would be far superior to most Hastati/Princepis/Triarri, it'd be the like 600 Centurii per Legion they'd have to worry about.


unless they're going to have a fort building competition, the Marines mostly win.
 
K

Kabouter

Member
Neuromancer said:
How are you guys reading this and not thinking, this is fucking awesome?

Dumb yes, but still awesome.
Click to expand...
Because I'd read the stories on Reddit a few months ago and already decided those were hilarious and awesome then? :p
 
F

Fleet_of_Foot

Member
Seems crazy no one brings up this series of books, but it's basically the same thing. I've only read the first one, but there are a lot in the series.

Bunch of modern Americans suddenly get transported back to 1632, end up right in the middle of some war. The happen to have a pickup truck and some modern weapons. First thing that happens is they encounter some soldiers raping a peasant woman, and murder all the soldiers with modern weaponry. Pretty awesome beginning to a book. It's been a couple years since I read it, but the Americans are trapped there and have to find a way to survive. I think later in the series there is a lot of stuff with them "inventing" things basically way before they were ever invented.

50gQz.jpg
 
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