From THR – Pompeii is finally set to erupt. Robert Harris’ bestselling thriller, which has been in feature development for years and at one time had Roman Polanski attached to direct, is now heading for the small screen. Robert Towne (Chinatown) is set to adapt the novel into a four part miniseries for Sony Pictures TV, Scott Free, and Tandem Communications.
Harris’ story revolves around Marcus Attilius, a young aqueduct engineer who is racing against time to try and keep water flowing to the ancient cities of the Bay of Naples, all the while unaware that the deadly Mount Vesuvius is about to erupt.
Book Jacket:
Ancient Rome is the setting for the superb new novel from Robert Harris, author of the number one bestsellers Fatherland, Enigma and Archangel.
Where else to enjoy the last days of summer than on the beautiful Bay of Naples. All along the coast, the Roman Empire’s richest citizens are relaxing in their luxurious villas. The world’s largest navy lies peacefully at anchor in Misenum. The tourists are spending their money in the seaside resorts of Baiae, Herculaneum and Pompeii.
Only one man is worried. The engineer Marius Primus has just taken charge of the Aqua Augusta, the enormous aqueduct that brings fresh water to a quarter of a million people in nine towns around the Bay. Springs are failing for the first time in generations. His predecessor has disappeared. And now there is a crisis on the Augusta’s sixty-mile main line somewhere to the north of Pompeii, on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius. Marius decent, practical, incorruptible promises Pliny, the famous scholar who commands the navy, that he can repair the aqueduct before the reservoir runs dry. But as he heads out towards Vesuvius he is about to discover there are forces that even the world’s only superpower can’t control.
Pompeii recreates in spellbinding detail one of the most famous natural disasters of all time. And by focusing on the characters of an engineer and a scientist, it offers an entirely original perspective on the Roman world.
You can read an excerpt here.
Leave a Reply