Photographed in Cinemascope by Luca Bigazzi, this two-hour movie has the sweep, color and passion of a period epic.

"It's a sort of period epic," Mr. Donaldson said of this pending Markham film.

He said the studio had other period epics on its slate.

In 2003, he appeared in Warner Bros.' period epic The Last Samurai.

All except King Xi were featured in the Chinese period epic The Emperor and the Assassin.

A plaintive period epic from Ridley Scott, starring Orlando Bloom, about the bloody orgies of piety known as the Crusades.

Ms. Deneuve, perhaps the most famous actress in French film history, has taken to dividing her time between lavish period epics and small quirky independent films.

Prerelease polling indicated that audiences were more eager to see the period epic.

And while Doug's book about the villainous monk who destroyed Gutenberg's press fits the Broadway formula perfectly, you need to shrink this period epic down.

He designed the period epic Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, where he blended the real and the artificial by embracing both computer effects and actual locations.