As Leonardo DiCaprio noted recently, there isn't a ton of mainstream creative content that deals with the history of Russia. The BBC's "War and Peace" covered a lot of ground, but Moscow clearly didn't feel that it was sufficient. So now, they are developing their own series, but the inspiration may surprise you.
News agency Itar-Tass reports that Russian producers are planning a "Game of Thrones"-styled series focusing on Russia's last royal family, the Romanovs. The show will be called "Epokha Raztsveta," which translates to "The Age of Flourishing," and will emulate HBO's sprawling fantasy epic with an ensemble of important characters and period appropriate environments.
"The historical project Epokha Raztsveta can be called an equivalent to Game of Thrones," producer Alexey Petrukhin said. "We studied the business model of their project and we communicated a lot with the creators of Game of Thrones. As in their series, we will have several directors, several operators, each of whom will follow their family and their own characters."
"Game of Thrones" revolves around a handful of royal families jockeying for power in the fictional continent of Westeros. The series is based on the best-selling novels by fantasy author George R.R. Martin and boasts an incredibly large cast.
"Epokha Raztsveta" will begin with a feature-length film in 2017. Playwright Oleg Shishkin will pen the script, and director Oleg Stepchenko, known for adapting the Nikolay Gogol short story "Viya" for film in 2013, will act as artistic director.
Petrukhin intends for the series to cover the Romanov's three-century dynasty across 12 seasons. Set for a 2018 premiere, each season will include 12 episodes with the first focusing on the so-called Times of Trouble before the Romnaov reign began.
The Romanovs took control of Russia following a long period of famine and instability. Mikhail Romanov first ascended to the throne in 1613 after years of war and failed power grabs by other prominent Russian families.
Spoiler Alert
The Romanov dynasty ended in bloodshed with the Communist Revolution of 1917. King Nicholas and the entire royal family were executed by revolutionaries, and the Soviet Union assumed control of the country.
