HBO Proclaims Sunday, Aug. 28 as the Premiere of the Epic 12-Episode Drama Series ROME

June 29, 2005

NEW YORK - HBO launches the epic 12-episode drama series ROME on SUNDAY, AUG. 28 (9:00-10:00 p.m. ET/PT), with the episode entitled "The Stolen Eagle." Chronicling the fall of a Republic and the rise of an empire, the series debuts new episodes on subsequent Sundays at the same time.

In order to maximize subscriber viewing choices, each of the first three episodes will be scheduled so that it can be seen seven days a week at varying times on either HBO, HBO2 or HBO Signature. In addition, throughout the series run, the previous week's episode will air Sunday (8:00-9:00 p.m.) leading into the debut of that week's new episode.

HBO's next free preview, Sept. 3-7, will feature "The Stolen Eagle" and episode 2, "How Titus Pullo Brought Down the Republic"; and in a first-ever HBO On Demand exclusive, the third episode, entitled "An Owl in a Thornbush," will be made available beginning Monday, Sept. 5, in advance of its Sept. 11 debut on HBO.

The overall scheduling strategy for ROME represents the largest, most aggressive viewership campaign HBO has ever put together for a new series. Presented in much of the country to non-HBO subscribers through a free preview, as well as to current subscribers, ROME will be playing on three of HBO's plex channels, and on HBO On Demand. The total reach achieved for sampling should provide ROME with a strong opportunity to gather a regular audience in the weeks between the end of the summer cable season and the start of the fall broadcast season.

"Our goal is to put ROME in front of every demo and every audience segment by appearing every day of the week and in all the appropriate timeslots from 8:00 p.m. to late night," notes David Baldwin, executive vice president, program planning, HBO. "HBO On Demand enables them to watch anytime they choose. This saturation sampling phase will be supported by HBO's legendary on-channel and off-channel promotion and awareness efforts, both for the launch on Aug. 28 and for the weeks following."

A co-production between HBO and the BBC, ROME began shooting in Rome in March 2004, with Michael Apted ("Coal Miner's Daughter," "The World Is Not Enough") directing the first three episodes. Additional directors include Allen Coulter (HBO's "The Sopranos"), Julian Farino (HBO's "Entourage"), Jeremy Podeswa (HBO's "Carniv�le"), Alan Poul (HBO's "Six Feet Under"), Mikael Salomon (HBO's "Band of Brothers"), Steve Shill (HBO's "The Wire"), Alan Taylor (HBO's "Deadwood") and Timothy Van Patten (HBO's "Sex and the City"). Production for the series is based at Rome's Cinecitt� Studios, with additional locations throughout Italy.

Among the actors starring in the first season are Kevin McKidd ("Kingdom of Heaven") as Lucius Vorenus, Ray Stevenson ("King Arthur") as Titus Pullo, Ciar�n Hinds ("Road to Perdition") as Gaius Julius Caesar, Kenneth Cranham ("Gangster No. 1") as Pompey Magnus, Polly Walker ("Patriot Games") as Atia of the Julii, James Purefoy ("Vanity Fair") as Mark Antony, Tobias Menzies ("Foyle's War") as Marcus Junius Brutus, Lindsay Duncan ("Under the Tuscan Sun") as Servilia of the Junii, Indira Varma ("Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love") as Niobe, Max Pirkis ("Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World") as Gaius Octavian and Kerry Condon ("Angela's Ashes") as Octavia of the Julii.

ROME is a co-production of HBO and the BBC; co-creators, John Milius and William J. Macdonald and Bruno Heller; executive producers, Bruno Heller, William J. Macdonald, John Milius, Anne Thomopoulos and Frank Doelger; executive producer for the BBC, Lucy Richer; co-executive producers, Jim Dyer and Eugene Kelly; produced by Marco Valerio Pugini; production designer, Joseph Bennett; costume designer, April Ferry; casting, Nina Gold, Nina Gold & Associates.