Horrible Histories: The Movie – Rotten Romans

2019 British historical comedy film

Horrible Histories: The Movie – Rotten Romans

Theatrical release poster

Directed by| Dominic Brigstocke
Screenplay by|

* Jessica Swale
* Giles Pilbrow
* Caroline Norris

Based on| Horrible Histories
by Terry Deary
Produced by|

* Will Clarke
* Caroline Norris

Starring|

* Emilia Jones
* Sebastian Croft
* Nick Frost
* Craig Roberts
* Kate Nash
* Rupert Graves
* Alex Macqueen
* Lee Mack
* Warwick Davis
* Sanjeev Bhaskar
* Alexander Armstrong
* Chris Addison
* Derek Jacobi
* Kim Cattrall

Cinematography| John Sorapure
Edited by| Nigel Williams
Music by|

* Richie Webb
* Matt Katz
* Iain Farrington

Production
companies

* Altitude Film Entertainment
* Amazon Prime Video
* Ingenious Media
* Silver Reel
* CBBC
* BBC Films
* Citrus Films
* Scholastic Entertainment
* Lion Television

Distributed by| Altitude Film Distribution

Release date

* 26 July 2019 (2019-07-26) (United Kingdom)[1]

Running time

| 92 minutes[2]
Country| United Kingdom
Language| English
Box office| $3.8 million[3]

Horrible Histories: The Movie – Rotten Romans is a 2019 British historical comedy film directed by Dominic Brigstocke, based on the book series of the same name by author Terry Deary, and the television series of 2009 and 2015 on CBBC. The film production, of one of the stories, was announced in March 2016. The film is a co-production, between Altitude Film Entertainment, BBC Films and Citrus Films. It was released on 26 July 2019 to mixed reviews.[4]

## Synopsis

[edit]

Atti, a Roman teenager with brains but no muscle, is always coming up with schemes, but one of these upsets Emperor Nero. For his punishment, he is sent to cold wet Britain on the fringe of the Roman Empire.

Whilst in Britain, he is captured by Orla, a feisty Celt, but they eventually come to an understanding, but to Atti's horror, when he is returned to his regiment, he finds himself pitted against Orla and her tribe at the Boudican revolt's Battle of Watling Street.[5]

## Cast

[edit]

* Emilia Jones as Orla
* Sebastian Croft as Atti
* Nick Frost as Arghus
* Craig Roberts as Emperor Nero
* Kim Cattrall as Agrippina the Younger
* Kate Nash as Boudicca
* Rupert Graves as Governor Suetonius Paulinus
* Alex Macqueen as Sycophantus
* Derek Jacobi as Emperor Claudius[6]
* Lee Mack as Decimus
* Chris Addison as Traffic reporter
* Ella Smith as Mrs. Dougal
* Alexander Armstrong as Procurator Catus Decianus
* Dustin Demri-Burns as Crazy Cedric
* Warwick Davis as Gladiator Trainer
* Lucy Montgomery as Birte (Third New Recruit)
* Tom Stourton as Percy
* Jessica Ransom as Drusilla
* Ncuti Gatwa as Timidius
* Sanjeev Bhaskar as Mr. Felix
* Dominique Moore as Traveller
* Dimitris Konstantinou-Hautecoeur as Palace Guard
* Richard David-Caine as Soothsayer
* Sarah Hadland as Irene the Iceni
* Joanna Bacon as Brenda
* Roy Martin Thorn as Roman Soldier
* Jalaal Hartley as Weedy messenger
* Jordan Scowen as Celcius
* Katy Wix as Watling Street Presenter
* Jamie Demetriou as Dimidius
* Mike Wozniak as Owen Bowen
* John Eccleston as Rattus Rattus (voice)

## Production

[edit]

The rights to a film were optioned from the Horrible Histories author, Terry Deary. The project was filmed in Bulgaria and the United Kingdom, including in the Roman villa and Iron Age village at Butser Ancient Farm in Hampshire, and Iron Age roundhouses at Celtic Harmony in Hertfordshire.[7][8][9][10]

## Reception

[edit]

### Box office

[edit]

Rotten Romans opened to $754,973 in the United Kingdom.[3] As of 1 November 2019[update], the film has earned a total of $3.7 million, at the box office.[3]

### Critical response

[edit]

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 69%, based on 29 reviews, with an average rating of 5.7/10. The website's consensus says, "Charmingly broad and appropriately goofy, Horrible Histories: The Movie – Rotten Romans lands its punchlines often enough to entertain its target audience."[11]

Peter Bradshaw gave the film three out of five stars. He describes Derek Jacobi reprising the role which made him famous in 1976 as the Emperor Claudius, as the film's most sensational coup. Bradshaw calls the film "a decent bit of school holiday entertainment" although he felt the broad humour was aimed at (very young) audiences, and not as good as the film Bill, which was produced by the writers and actors from the television series of Horrible Histories.[12]

Wendy Ide gave the film two out of five stars, and felt that the film lacked some of the "essential rottenness", as the linear format of the film rather than the skit-based structure of the series led to a loss of "the punchy hit rate of gung ho, gross out that made the series such a deliciously uncouth pleasure".[13]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Warner, Sam (1 March 2019). "We're all Fartacus in first trailer for Horrible Histories movie". Digital Spy. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
2. ^ "Horrible Histories". British Board of Film Classification.
3. ^ a b c "Horrible Histories: The Movie – Rotten Romans (2019) – Financial Information". The Numbers. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
4. ^ "Horrible Histories: The Movie – Rotten Romans". Filmoria.co.uk. 15 July 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
5. ^ White, James (3 October 2018). "Horrible Histories Movie In The Works". Empire. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
6. ^ "BBC – Horrible Histories: The Movie – Rotten Romans gets cinema release date – BBC Films". BBC. 15 October 2018. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
7. ^ Doward, Jamie (27 March 2016). "Horrible Histories: the Movie is coming soon, says creator Terry Deary". The Observer. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
8. ^ Grater, Tom (3 October 2018). "'Horrible Histories: The Movie' reveals cast and first look". Screen Daily. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
9. ^ "Butser Ancient Farm on Film". Butser Ancient Farm. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
10. ^ "Filming at Celtic Harmony!". Celtic Harmony. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
11. ^ "Horrible Histories: The Movie - Rotten Romans (2019)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
12. ^ Bradshaw, Peter (26 July 2019). "Horrible Histories: The Movie – Rotten Romans review – the empire strikes back". The Guardian.
13. ^ Ide, Wendy (28 July 2019). "Horrible Histories: The Movie – Rotten Romans review: too much teen drama". The Observer. The Guardian.

## External links

[edit]

* Horrible Histories: The Movie – Rotten Romans at IMDb

* v
* t
* e

Horrible Histories

* Book series (List of books)

Television|

* Live-action series
* episodes
* cast members
* Animated series
* Gory Games
* Horrible Histories with Stephen Fry
* Prom
* 2015 revival
* episodes

Exhibitions|

* Funfair of Fear (2000)
* Frightful First World War (2008–2009)
* Terrible Trenches (2009–2010)
* Plague, Poverty and Prayer: A Horrid History with Terry Deary (2013)
* Rotten Rationing Big Picture Show (2013–2015)
* Spies (2013)

Other media|

* The Mad Millennium (musical play)
* Live on Stage (stage show)
* Ruthless Romans (video game)
* The Movie – Rotten Romans (film)

Spin-offs|

* Horrible Science
* stage show
* Murderous Maths
* Horrible Geography
* America's Funny But True History

Key people and companies|

* Terry Deary and Martin Brown
* Nick Arnold and Tony De Saulles
* Anita Ganeri
* Kjartan Poskitt and Philip Reeve
* Scholastic Corporation
* CBBC
* The Birmingham Stage Company
* Horrible Histories troupe

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