One of the great book adaptations of Greek mythology in recent years was Madeline Miller’s Circe. The offering was released in 2018 and swiftly went on to ship more than two million copies. HBO rapidly moved to acquire the rights to transform the book into a series, which is reportedly in the pre-production phase currently.
Greek themes are abundant in the wider entertainment industry but haven’t had much of an impact on streaming services yet. HBO’s Circe could change that and lead to an influx of mythology-based titles.
Ancient Greek Themes are Abundant in the Wider Entertainment Industry
One of the best places to get a benchmark of a genre’s popularity is the booming online casino market, which attracts millions of players all around the world. One of the top offerings at any respectable online casino site is Playtech’s Age of the Gods. The Greek-themed slot game is so popular that the developers created numerous other titles in the series. The latest is Age of the Gods III: God of Storms.
It’s not just iGaming that has tons of Greek-themed options designed to appeal to players. One of the best console games of recent times was Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, which allowed players to relive parts of the journey of Odysseus and included loads of classic monsters from the era. On mobile, there are numerous options as well, such as Immortalis and Titan: Olympus War. Television viewers, on the other hand, don’t have many Greek shows to choose from. This could be set to change when HBO releases its new offering, however.
HBO Ordered Circe Three Years Ago
Soon after Circe was released in 2018, HBO moved to secure the rights to adapt it into a television series. It was announced that this would be an eight-part miniseries with Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver serving as writers and producers. The husband and wife screenwriting couple are best known for their work on the Planet of the Apes franchise. They were also on the writing team for In the Heart of the Sea and Jurassic World, further highlighting their Hollywood credentials.
With these names attached, Circe has the potential to be an incredible series and HBO may be intending it to be one of its new flagship offerings. Not much information has been released about the series yet, aside from the fact that it will feature a female protagonist who has to deal with incredible conflicts.
Series Could be a Gamechanger
HBO has a history of being a trailblazer in the television industry and often starts trends before other services pick up on them. A prime example of this was with Game of Thrones. The fantasy offering was such a success that it caused other platforms to scramble for similar content in its wake.
Circe could have the power to do the same thing for Greek mythology that GOT did for fantasy. It could bring the heroes, gods, and monsters back into the mainstream and inspire other television studios to make their own offerings inspired by the stories of the time.
HBO’s version of Circe was first reported in 2019, so the studio could have been working on it for a while. However, with no official announcements yet, it’s hard to predict a release date. When it does eventually drop it could potentially become one of the biggest series on HBO Max.
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