Inspired by the success of Warner Bros.’s 300, Starz is mounting its own graphic-novel style sword-and-sandal epic. The company is putting a new twist on a gladiatorial legend with Spartacus, a live-action television series that will utilize virtual environments to create a hyper-stylized vision of ancient Rome. Slated to debut on premium cable network Starz and its suite of channels in the summer of 2009, the show will be produced by Starz Media with exec producers Sam Raimi, Rob Tapert and Joshua Donen.
Steven S. DeKnight (Smallville, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) has been signed as head writer and show-runner of the series. The project is developed by Raimi, director of the Spider-Man and Evil Dead series of films; Tapert, producer of The Grudge and the series Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys; and Donen, producer of The Quick and the Dead and Raimi’s upcoming horror flick Drag Me to Hell. Like Xena and Hercules, Spartacus will be produced in New Zealand.
Spartacus tells the story of an actual slave of the Roman Republic who, in 73 BC, led a slave revolt that saw more than 120,000 fighters defy the Republic’s legions of soldiers in a campaign that lasted two years. The tale was first brought to the screen by Universal Pictures and film icon Kirk Douglas in 1960. E.R.‘s Goran Visnjic portrayed the character in a 2004 telepic for USA Network. Starz says it is re-imagining the tale for a generation of TV viewers raised on graphic novels and cutting-edge production technology. Audiences can look forward to 13 action-packed, hour-long episodes aimed at adult audiences.
‘It is going to be very exciting to take one of the most beloved and inspiring characters of all time, re-invent and bring them to life for a whole new generation of TV viewers,’ Raimi comments.
‘By utilizing the latest digital filmmaking techniques to create the look of this series, we’ll be able to tell the story in a way never before seen with production values far beyond what even the most ambitious TV series can offer,’ adds Tapert.
Spartacus will be the second original drama series for Starz, after Crash, and the first drama produced in-house by Starz Media, the studio headed by William Hamm, exec VP of original productions. Hamm brought the project to the channel. Starz Media’s Anchor Bay Ent. will hold exclusive worldwide home entertainment distribution rights, and the company’s worldwide distribution group will handle international television and domestic syndication sales.
