| Horrible Histories: The Movie – Rotten Romans | |
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 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Dominic Brigstocke |
| Screenplay by |
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| Based on | Horrible Histories byTerry Deary |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | John Sorapure |
| Edited by | Nigel Williams |
| Music by |
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Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Altitude Film Distribution |
Release date |
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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 Britishhistoricalcomedy film directed by Dominic Brigstocke, based on thebook series of the same name by authorTerry Deary, and the television series of2009 and2015 onCBBC. 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]
In the film, a Roman teenager is exiled toRoman Britain because one of his schemes angered theRoman emperorNero. To his horror, the youth has to serve as a soldier against theBoudican revolt.
Atti, a Roman teenager with brains but no muscle, is always coming up with schemes, but one of these upsetsEmperor Nero. For his punishment, he is sent to the cold wet province ofRoman Britain on the fringe of theRoman Empire.
Whilst in Britain, he is captured by Orla, a feistyCelt, 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 theBoudican revolt's Battle of Watling Street.[5]
The rights to a film were optioned from theHorrible Histories author, Terry Deary. The project was filmed in Bulgaria and the United Kingdom, including in the Roman villa and Iron Age village atButser Ancient Farm in Hampshire, and Iron Age roundhouses at Celtic Harmony in Hertfordshire.[7][8][9][10]
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]
OnRotten 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 describesDerek Jacobi reprisingthe 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 filmBill, which was produced by the writers and actors from the television series ofHorrible 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]