Peacock’s ambitious Roman arena drama Those About to Die has officially been denied a second season, underscoring once again how brutal the streaming numbers game has become. The series, which blended gladiatorial spectacle with backroom political intrigue in the style of Gladiator crossed with Game of Thrones, arrived in July 2024 with genuine pedigree: Anthony Hopkins as Emperor Vespasian, direction from Roland Emmerich and Marco Kreuzpaintner, and a sprawling cast that included Game of Thrones veteran Iwan Rheon. Yet despite the star power and an Olympics-timed launch, the show’s domestic performance simply didn’t justify the hefty production budget required to continue.
Executive producer Stuart Ford was blunt in a recent Deadline interview. While proud of the project and noting its strong international numbers on Prime Video, he admitted the U.S. viewership on Peacock fell short. The ten episodes dropped all at once, but Nielsen data showed only 399 minutes viewed in the key American market—modest even for a binge release. For context, that’s the kind of figure that rarely moves the needle when compared to heavy hitters like Reacher or Bridgerton, where total minutes watched routinely climb into the millions. In today’s cost-conscious streaming landscape, “international hit but soft domestically” is no longer enough to greenlight expensive period pieces.
The show itself had clear ambitions. Adapted loosely from Daniel P. Mannix’s book, it tried to weave chariot races, slave auctions, and imperial scheming into a single narrative tapestry. Some sequences captured the raw, sweaty energy of ancient spectacle, and Hopkins brought gravitas to a role that could easily have been cartoonish. Yet the execution often felt uneven. Critics, landing at a modest 46 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, praised the production design and familiar epic beats while lamenting thin characterization and a finale that failed to deliver satisfying payoff. Characters frequently served plot mechanics rather than emerging as memorable figures in their own right—an issue that has plagued many modern swords-and-sandals attempts trying to replicate the cultural impact of Ridley Scott’s 2000 film or HBO’s Game of Thrones.
This cancellation fits a broader pattern. Streaming services poured money into lavish historical dramas hoping for the next big water-cooler phenomenon, only to discover that audience attention is fractured and fickle. Those About to Die benefited from the 2024 Paris Olympics bump, cracking Nielsen’s Top 10 briefly, but momentum faded fast. Emmerich had spoken optimistically about expanding into different timelines and perspectives, yet those ideas now remain on the shelf. The economics are unforgiving: when even solid international streaming and name talent can’t offset weak home-market engagement, second seasons become luxury items few platforms can afford.
For viewers who enjoyed the show’s mix of blood, politics, and Hopkins monologues, the news stings. It joins a growing list of ambitious Peacock originals that burned bright but briefly. In an era where data rules and production costs remain sky-high, shows like this remind us that spectacle alone rarely guarantees survival. The arena may be empty for now, but the lessons about what streaming audiences actually finish watching will shape the next wave of historical epics.
