New & Forthcoming Movies 2017 Archive

ANCIENT WORLD MOVIES
& TV SHOWS
RELEASED IN 2017

(2017 was a lousy year for movies set in the ancient world,
with very little of note—but 2018 promises to be better.
Got a new item, correction, or update? Please let Steven know!)

Click to see the current New Movies page
Go to archive pages for 2010 • 2011 • 2012 • 2013 • 2014 • 2015 • 2016 • 2018
Visit Steven’s page of Ancient Cinema Books


Wonder Woman opened June 2, 2017 to great reviews, with echoes of the ancient world and Amazonian lore abounding. Seen here along with Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman is Queen Hippolyta (Connie Nelson) and WW’s aunts, General Antiope ( Robin Wright) and Antiope’s lieutenant, Menalippe (Lisa Loven Kongsli). Now availble on DVD.


Bettany Hughes presents the docudrama series Eight Days That Made Rome, starting Oct 27, 2017 on the UK’s Channel 5 . Eight nodal points in the empire’s history will be examined (and re-enacted). From the acting credits it appears that Hughes will round up the usual suspects—Hannibal, Spartacus, Constantine, et. al.; will there be any surprises in the mix? Teaser preview here.

In a follow-up to 2015’s Rome’s Invisible City, Dr. Michael Scott and Alexander Armstrong team up to present the 3-part Italy’s Invisible Cities (one episode each for Naples, Venice, and Florence) starting January 4, 2017 on BBC. Cutting-edge 3D scanning technology and old-fashioned spelunking shed new light on the cities’ secrets.See the official page for clips and broadcast and streaming info (in the UK only).

Nero’s Sunken City debuted March 29, 2017 as part of the PBS series Secrets of the Dead, and aired (as Rome’s Sunken Secrets) on April 16, 2017 on UK’s Channel 4, subsequently streaming on demand within the UK. The locale is the ancient pleasure resort of Baiae, half of which subsided in the Bay of Naples in the 4th century A.D. Shallow underwater ruins have long been visible from the air, but only recently have archaeologists identified an imperial palace from the reign of Claudius, the earliest known Roman concrete dome (for a bathing complex), some truly stunning marble statues, and other fascinating finds.


Tom Cruise stars in The Mummy, set for release on June 9, 2017. Expect a ginormous action-adventure extravaganza. Photo above: Mr. Cruise before he puts on his face in the morning. (Just kidding! That’s the mummy of Ramses II.)

Doctor Who traveled back to Roman Britain in season 10 episode 10, “The Eaters of Light,” which aired June 17, 2017 on BBC. The episode delves into the mystery of the lost Ninth Legion, which vanished in the wilds of Scotland. But when the Doctor arrives in ancient Aberdeenshire, he finds a threat far greater than any army. In a cairn, on a hillside, is a doorway leading to the end of the world.

Gertrude Stein Matisse Picasso SFMOMA modern art
From the introduction to Seneca: Four Tragedies and Octavia, by E. F. Watling:

Cicero, at the festival celebrating the opening of Rome’s first permanent theatre, complained of the pathetic performances of old-fashioned actors past their prime, and of the spectacular ostentation which had been imposed on the old tragedies: “Who wants to see six hundred mules in Clytaemnestra or three hundred goblets in The Trojan Horse, or a battle between fully equipped armies of horse and foot?”

What would Cicero have made of 300?

From Achilles to Zeus: Stephen Moss, film writer for The Guardian, offers an A-Z guide to Ancient World movies. His spot-on entry for the letter S: “Slaves: Notable by their absence in films about Sparta, even though they were the bedrock of Spartan society. Presumably acknowledgment of Sparta’s large slave population would sit oddly with a portrayal of a heroic society that valued freedom...” Click here to read the entire alphabet.