Within screenwriting circles, Robert Towne is considered a god despite the fact that his name ends with an -e. His work on Roman Polanski's Chinatown not only won him an Oscar for Best Screenplay, but it’s actually considered by many to be the "perfect" screenplay. Myself, I think it’s lacking in aliens/ninjas/robots/farts, but I digress.
Anyway, Towne is still writing and his latest project is a miniseries taking place in Pompeii during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Should be... explosive. He’ll be adapting the story from Robert Harris' 2003 novel, titled cryptically Pompeii. The story follows the adventures of a young Roman engineer working on a massive aqueduct that has to survive the massive explosion. Seems like Towne can’t really get away from water issues despite traveling back about 2000 years.
As long as it continues the trend (i.e. boobs) of recent ancient historical television shows (Rome, Spartacus, The Tudors, The Borgias, etc.) I’ll be happy.
Source: Variety