Is This The End of Rome?



Granted, HBO's brilliant "Rome" is an extremely cost-prohibitive enterprise not to be undertaken by the faint of heart. The first season is estimated at about $100 million (Though costs were split with BBC and Italy's RAI TV). That having been said, it has a rabid fanbase of high-end viewers, in the United States an d Europe. HBO's "Rome," which roughly ends where "I, Claudius," the greatest television drama ever (with the possible exception of Alex Hailey's "Roots"), begins -- at the beginning of the Julio-Claudian dynasty.

But for the bold HBO executive, there is still maneuvering room to continue the series. Of course, the production costs are too expensive -- especially considering that the co-production contracts with BBC and RAI have expired. The wiggle room between the aged Augustus presiding over Episode I of "I, Claudius," and the crowning of Octavian at the closing of HBO's masterful "Rome" has at least one full-feature film in it. If television is too expensive, why not produce a film (And why not Time Warner's New Line studio, which has experience at the lavish production), where the chances of recouping costs -- especially in Europe and overseas B.O -- is a not unlikely. It would be the epitome of prestige pictures and, we cannot fail to note, the actors would be more than game to sign on board.

How can HBO end such a magnificent series in such an ambiguous way after only two seasons?