Roland Emmerich is not known as the ‘master of disaster’ for nothing. The German director has, over the last few decades, given Hollywood some of its biggest blockbusters, with all of his films being known for scale and spectacle, as well as for a beating heart.

Emmerich, 59, has films like Universal Soldier (1992), Stargate (1994), Independence Day (1996) and its sequel Independence Day: Resurgence (2016), Godzilla (1998), The Patriot (2000), The Day After Tomorrow (2004), 10,000 BC (2008), 2012 (2009), White House Down (2013), Midway (2019) and Moonfall (2022), among others to his credit.

He now ventures into long-format storytelling with Those About To Die, an epic 10-episode series based on the book of the same name written by Daniel P. Mannix which, set in Rome in AD 79, looks at the murky underbelly of the period and is characterised by bloodlust, greed, the pursuit of power and corruption. Led by Anthony Hopkins and also starring Game of Thrones alum Iwan Rheon, among a strong ensemble cast, Those About To Die is now streaming on Prime Video. Over a video call, t2 caught up with Emmerich for a chat on Those About To Die, the Anthony Hopkins experience on set and more.

What is it about this story and the book that made you want to make it into a 10-hour-long series?

We only took the title from the book and kind of fashioned our own story out of the information we needed from it. We chose Vespasian (played by Anthony Hopkins) as the first emperor who came out of the Year of the Four Emperors (The Year of the Four Emperors, AD 69, was the first civil war of the Roman Empire, during which four emperors — Galba, Otho, Vitellius and Vespasian — ruled in succession). Vespasian was the last man standing. His army voted him into the emperor-ship and he did something really smart. When he came to Rome, he erased the Golden House (The Domus Aurea aka Golden House was a vast landscaped complex built by Emperor Nero largely on the Oppian Hill in the heart of ancient Rome after the great fire in 64 AD had destroyed a large part of the city).

In place of that, he built the Flavian Amphitheatre (better known as the Colosseum today). Vespasian used that as a political tool. In the series, Vespasian is only there for three episodes. But if there is a second season, I will have more of him because I want to show how he became emperor, and counter that with the decline and the paranoia that Domitian (Vespasian’s son who later became Roman emperor) brought on. He gets assassinated by his own people.

Sports intertwined with politics is always compelling to watch and your series has both in abundance....

Yes. Consider one thing, it was a third of their money, their whole money, which they had as a budget (for sport). A third went into games. Can you imagine this?! Today, the budget for sport is only five-six per cent.

The Romans also kept one-third (of their budget) for war. The other one-third was for buildings and boats and stuff like that. The Roman citizens had no incentive to work because they had slaves for everything. They had 300,000 slaves for a population of about 300,000, so it was about one slave per person. The upper class basically had nothing to do apart from going to the games or the Roman Baths. It was a great life, I wish we were there, you know! (Laughs)

You are not new to big-scale productions. Was making Those About To Die, despite its huge scale and scope different, since you were making it for the small screen?

Right from the beginning, for a show of this scale, we were $10-15 million short. I had to opt for a bridge loan. I had this inkling that I would have to use the volume stage to the maximum. A volume stage is kind of a big screen that makes you believe you are right in the middle of all that is taking place. I shot for 108 days on that stage... and it was really, really awesome!

A show like this requires a budget of at least $200-250 million, but I did it for $148 million. I still had some territories to sell, so I sold them and paid back the loan.

When it comes to the shooting bit, the challenges were mainly the animal scenes. They were all kind of really difficult. Doing the horse races was tough and in the end, we had to cut one or two shots because they weren’t really good enough. That was, for me, the hardest part.

You have worked with some of the biggest names in the business. What did Anthony Hopkins, as Vespasian, bring to a series like this?

I told him that I wanted his character to be stern. Vespasian is a military man, he is very tough. He is very harsh with his kids.

I remember when we started shooting on the first day with him, the set was very, very loud. He put up with it for about 20 minutes and and then said a very, very loud ‘Silencio!’ And everyone went quiet instantly! (Laughs) They were all like looking at each other and saying: ‘What was this?!’ After that, every time he was on set, everyone was super quiet! (Laughs)

Like Hopkins, do you like your sets to be quiet?

Oh, the sets are very loud in Italy, but then you kind of learn to get used to it. Night shoots are very, very loud!

What about long-format storytelling appeals to you? And is there a film of yours that you feel you would want to revisit as a web series?

There is no movie of mine, as such, that I can think of. What I would like to do is make a web series out of Lawrence of Arabia (the 1962 David Lean classic starring Peter O’Toole as the titular protagonist). When I first watched it as a kid, I was blown away by it. Over the years, as I have read more and more about it, I feel a TV show would be really good to tell so much more about this story.

What continues to keep you engaged, excited and energised as a filmmaker?

I do get angry and frustrated sometimes, but on most days, I am like a kid who has the biggest toy box in the world! I love shooting... that is when I feel most alive.