Exploring the Fate of "Those About to Die": A Deep Dive into Peacock's Ambitious Historical Drama
By Published May 14, 2026, 8:31 AM EDT Abdullah Al-Ghamdi joined Screen Rant in August 2019 and is now one of the leading contributors of the TV News team. Having written over 3000 news stories in that time , with his work cited in Buzzfeed and TV Insider, he's always bemoaning that there's too many shows and not enough time. You can contact him at: aalghamdi@hey.com. follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap
There won't be another chapter of .
Combining the swords-and-sandals appeal of Gladiator with the political machinations of Game of Thrones, Peacock's Those About to Die debuted in July 2026 and features two-time Academy Award winner during the height of the Roman Empire. Across ten episodes, the story focuses on different characters and illuminates the connections between sports, power, and legacy.
In a recent wide-ranging interview with , executive producer Stuart Ford was asked about whether Those About to Die season 2 could still happen. Ford responded candidly, revealing that the historical epic is “probably not” coming back. In the quote below, the exec producer goes into some detail about why the series did not get renewed and cites the fact that viewership was not enough for Peacock:
Stuart Ford: Probably not. We are hugely proud of the show. It was a massive hit internationally, but it did not perform well enough on Peacock to justify the very significant production cost for a second season, which is a great shame.
Based on the book by Daniel P. Mannix, with Robert Rodat writing, and Roland Emmerich and Marco Kreuzpaintner as co-directors, the Peacock Original received an Olympics boost. Late in July, mere days after the show's debut, Those About to Die appeared on Nielsen's Top 10 charts in the #6 spot. However, it only achieved 399 minutes viewed in the U.S.
That is a relatively low number of minutes, considering all the drama's 10 episodes were released at once, with the average episode runtime nearly 60 minutes. Nielsen calculates viewership based on minutes watched. In general, the more minutes watched, the larger the audience. That is especially true for binge releases or big streaming hits like Reacher and Bridgerton.
In any case, Emmerich was hopeful about the chances of season 2 happening. The director, known for films such as Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow, mentioned in interviews that could introduce different timelines and bring in more perspectives to the story.
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Iwan Rheon's portrayal of Tenax in Peacock's Those About To Die offered a more nuanced performance than Rheon's Ramsay Bolton in Game of Thrones.
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With that also included Game of Thrones actor Iwan Rheon, Sara Martins, Tom Hughes, Jojo Macari, Moe Hashim, Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson, Rupert Penry-Jones, and Tell Me Lies alum Gabriella Pession, among several others, the historical drama streamed on Prime Video internationally.
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It received mixed reviews during its run, sitting at 46% on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics noting that the high-profile adaptation skillfully plays the beats expected by viewers who enjoyed epics such as Gladiator. However, on the more negative side, the characterization was singled out as lacking, and several argued that the narrative doesn't build up to a satisfying .
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