Two Roman Epics are now simultaneously in production: ABC/Disney's "Empire",
22 episodes budgeted for $30 million, and HBO's "Rome" for $75 million.

"Empire" is in jeopardy because of cost overruns, and a change of management to those who were unenthusiastic about the project, and viewers lack of acceptance of the limited series drama.
===========================================
TELEVISION
PRICE OF 'EMPIRE' CLIMBS

ABC's $30-million Roman epic is plagued by cost overruns,
loss of network supporters.

By Scott Collins
Times Staff Writer
May 5 2004

ABC is finding out that making a big-budget series about ancient Rome is no toga party.

The network, whose newly installed top executives are struggling to turn around years of miserable ratings, has run into serious problems with "Empire," a $30-million "limited series" that narrates the epic struggle between Marc Antony and Octavian in the days following Julius Caesar's death, according to sources familiar with the situation.

Senior management met Tuesday afternoon to decide whether to pull the plug entirely, although they tabled a decision for the moment.

Aiming for a small-screen "Gladiator," ABC late last year ordered eight episodes of "Empire" from writer Tom Wheeler and Touchstone Television, the studio that like ABC is owned by Walt Disney Co. At the time, executives hoped the series could be ready for some time during the 2004-05 season, if not necessarily for fall.

The scheduled four-month shoot started April 19 at Roma Studios in Italy, and already Touchstone has replaced the line producer and production designer. It also brought aboard producer Tony Jonas ("Queer as Folk") to help straighten out what is turning into a chaotic, expensive shoot, with a mostly Italian crew and a cast of European actors virtually unknown in the U.S. Meanwhile, remaining on the shoot are executive producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, the team behind the ill-fated "The Reagans," the controversial biopic that CBS pulled last year.

"I don't think Disney realized it was going to be as big as it is," says an agent who has a client employed on the show.

One major source of trouble: cost overruns, which sources estimate to be as high as $6 million. Some of that is due to "currency fluctuations," according to a third executive, but exchange rates for the dollar may be the least of the network's worries. The sheer size and scope of the two-hour premiere poses so many challenges, two sources say, that ABC executives are still not sure it can be shot without adding many more millions of dollars to the budget.

The script for the two-hour premiere "was huge, with gladiators, [computer generated special effects], the Colosseum filled with people," the agent says.

But the biggest factor behind "Empire's" woes may be ABC's recent management shakeup. Susan Lyne, the network's recently departed entertainment president, championed the Roman epic during her tenure. Her successor, Steve McPherson, is under intense pressure to deliver a quick turnaround for ABC.

Although McPherson until recently ran Touchstone, which is producing "Empire," he is said to have been unenthusiastic about the project from the start. One insider said McPherson agreed to undertake "Empire" only at the urging of former ABC Entertainment Television Group Chairman Lloyd Braun, who also left the network last month. (Neither McPherson nor Braun could be reached for comment.) Moreover, Disney remains among the most cost-conscious of the major entertainment companies.

"The people who were passionate about this are no longer at the network," the insider adds.

ABC's recent experience could also lend credence to the notion that limited series — once considered a panacea for modern audiences unwilling to invest in traditional dramas, which air 22 episodes per season — are a bad bet. For example, the highly touted "Stephen King's Kingdom Hospital" started promisingly in midseason, only to tank as more episodes aired.

ABC also has to contend with "Rome," a competitive project from HBO that is budgeted at $75 million. HBO executives have sniped publicly that ABC developed "Empire" only after hearing about the pay-cable network's Roman epic. An HBO spokeswoman said Monday that production on "Rome" was proceeding as planned.

When reminded that HBO was plowing ahead with a rival project that will cost more than double what ABC is paying, one executive was unimpressed.

"Well, that's HBO, and this is the Disney Co.," the executive said.

Staff writer Anita M. Busch contributed to this report.

calendarlive.com: Price of 'Empire' climbs
http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/
cl-et-collins5may05,2,4878190.story?coll=cl-tv-features