Reddit has sold out! Er, not really. But! Warner Bros has bought movie rights to a story idea that originated as a Reddit comment. It all started when someone posted a question wondering if today’s US Marines could defeat Roman Empire legionnaires if they travelled back in time.
James Erwin, an author and two-time Jeopardy winner, saw that Reddit thread and responded with a comment that was pretty well thought out and extremely interesting. The Redditors loved it. Erwin kept writing with more and more stories until his concept got its own subreddit, Facebook fan page and popped on Reddit’s first page. From there, it caught the eye of Madhouse Entertainment’s Adam Kolbrenner who helped Erwin further develop the concept and then sold the idea to Warner Brothers. The movie, as its known now, is called Rome, Sweet Rome.
I love it. A measly comment could be transformed into an epic movie (you should read the whole thing, it’s awesome) but let’s hope the studios don’t go and ruin it for everyone by creating a bastard bubblegum version that replaces grit with a torrid love affair between Roman goddess and lowly soldier. Here’s a brief excerpt from Erwin’s original comments:
Sergeant McCandless watches the Romans advance, ignoring his warning shots and calls to halt. Their swords are drawn. He does not know the range of a Roman bow. He only knows that they are closing. He doesn’t know what kind of weapons they have. He doesn’t know how to talk to them. His nerves are frayed after four days without sleep, nightmares about his family ripping him out of the few minutes he can eke out before taking another go-pill.
“STOP!” he roars. “FUCKING HALT! NOW!” Five seconds.
“FIRE!”
It’s a really great read. I hope it’s going to be a really great movie. Reddit, you’ve done well.
[Reddit, Variety via BoingBoing, Image Credit: Rome Sweet Rome Facebook]