Peacock's Those About To Die Won't Return For Season 2

1 week ago 13

Jojo Macari holding a drink and looking at someone off-screen in Those About to Die

Published May 14, 2026, 8:31 AM EDT

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There won't be another chapter of Those About to Die.

In a recent wide-ranging interview with Deadline, executive producer Stuart Ford was asked about whether Those About to Die season 2 could still happen. Ford responded candidly, revealing that the historical epic is “probably not” coming back. In the quote below, the exec producer goes into some detail about why the series did not get renewed and cites the fact that viewership was not enough for Peacock:

Stuart Ford: Probably not. We are hugely proud of the show. It was a massive hit internationally, but it did not perform well enough on Peacock to justify the very significant production cost for a second season, which is a great shame.

Based on the book by Daniel P. Mannix, with Robert Rodat writing, and Roland Emmerich and Marco Kreuzpaintner as co-directors, the Peacock Original received an Olympics boost. Late in July, mere days after the show's debut, Those About to Die appeared on Nielsen's Top 10 charts in the #6 spot. However, it only achieved 399 minutes viewed in the U.S.

That is a relatively low number of minutes, considering all of the drama's ten episodes released at once, with the average runtime of an episode going near 60 minutes. Nielsen calculates viewership based on minutes watched. In general, the higher the number of minutes watched translates to a bigger audience. That is especially true for binge releases or big streaming hits like Reacher and Bridgerton.

In any case, Emmerich was hopeful about the chances of season 2 happening. The director, known for films such as Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow, mentioned in interviews that the future of Those About to Die could introduce different timelines and bring in more perspectives to the story.

Iwan Rheon's Role In Those About To Die Is Even Better Than In Game Of Thrones

Iwan Rheon's portrayal of Tenax in Peacock's Those About To Die offered a more nuanced performance than Rheon's Ramsay Bolton in Game of Thrones.

With the expansive cast of Those About to Die that also included Game of Thrones actor Iwan Rheon, Sara Martins, Tom Hughes, Jojo Macari, Moe Hashim, Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson, Rupert Penry-Jones, and Tell Me Lies alum Gabriella Pession, among several others, the historical drama streamed on Prime Video internationally.

It received mixed reviews during its run, sitting at 46% on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics noting that the high-profile adaptation skillfully plays the beats expected from fans who enjoyed epics such as Gladiator. However, on the more negative side, the characterization was singled out as lacking, and several argued that the narrative doesn't build up to a satisfying Those About to Die ending.