Spartacus: Blood and Sand
Press Release
26 March 2009
STARZ SNARES ITS SPARTACUS!
Aussie Import Andy Whitfield Portrays Legendary Gladiator Leader
In Action-Adventure Drama ‘Spartacus: Blood and Sand’
Lucy Lawless to Play Scheming Lucretia With Cast of Talented
Fresh Faces in Channel’s Newest Drama Series, Debuting January
2010
Burbank, CA - March 30, 2009 - After an exhaustive worldwide
search, Starz has found the actor to portray the gladiator
warrior hero title character of its new action series
“Spartacus: Blood and Sand“: Andy Whitfield. The actor joins a
talented cast of mostly newcomers in the series that begins
production April 1 in New Zealand and is slated to premiere on
Starz in January 2010.
Lucy Lawless has also been cast as Lucretia, who along with her
husband Batiatus, own the Ludus (a gladiator camp) - as well as
Spartacus. The couple has fallen on hard times financially and
has bought Spartacus hoping his fighting prowess will help them
regain their status in the brutal world of gladiatorial
contests. Among her many roles, Lawless is best known for
portraying “Xena: Warrior Princess” in the long-running global
hit series, and has appeared in SCI FI Channel’s critically
acclaimed “Battlestar Galactica.”
The world of gladiators comes to life as the Roman Republic’s
most brutal fighters clash in the ultimate arena. “Spartacus:
Blood and Sand” is an entirely new vision of the ancient legend
and will utilize virtual environments giving it a unique graphic
novel look and style, along with a fresh narrative approach.
Debuting exclusively on Starz, “Spartacus: Blood and Sand” is
produced by Starz Media with Executive Producers Rob Tapert, Sam
Raimi and Joshua Donen.
The UK-born and Australia-based Whitfield portrays Spartacus, a
soldier in the Roman Auxiliary who has been taken prisoner. As
punishment for defying a Roman Legate, Spartacus has been
sentenced to die in the gladiator arena. But after surviving
numerous fights, his sentence is commuted and he has been sold
as a slave to be trained as a gladiator. While he is a newcomer
in the U.S., Whitfield has gained acclaim in numerous Australian
drama series (”McLeod’s Daughters,” “Packed to the Rafters,”
“The Strip” and “Out of the Blue”) and also starred in the
feature film Gabriel, one of the highest grossing films at the
Australian Box Office in 2007. He just wrapped shooting on the
Australian feature, The Clinic.
Additional cast members include: Erin Cummings (”Dollhouse”) as
Thracian priestess Sura, Spartacus’ wife; Peter Mensah (300,
Avatar) as Doctore, Batiatus’ most loyal and trusted slave; Manu
Bennett (30 Days of Night, The Condemned) as Crixus, the top
gladiator at Batiatus’ Ludus; Antonio Te Maioha (”Xena: Warrior
Princess,” “Legend of the Seeker”) as Barca, a big, hulking
brute of a man who is Batiatus’ bodyguard and hit man; Craig
Parker (The Lord of the Rings trilogy, “Legend of the Seeker”)
as Glaber, a Roman Legate, who blames Spartacus for his failed
military campaign; and Nick E. Tarabay (”Crash,” “The Sopranos”)
as Ashur, a former gladiator who is now the Ludus’ resident
bookie.
Executive Producer Steven S. DeKnight (”Smallville,” “Buffy the
Vampire Slayer”) has been tapped as the head writer for the
series, which was originally developed by Tapert (The Grudge,
“Xena: Warrior Princess” and “Hercules: The Legendary
Journeys”), Raimi (Spider-Man and Evil Dead) and Donen (The
Quick and the Dead) and is being produced in New Zealand by
Starz Media’s Starz Productions. DeKnight just finished
consulting on Joss Whedon’s “Dollhouse” and will be writing the
upcoming eighth installment of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer
comic book series.
Starz’s new “Spartacus” series was inspired by the actual slave
of the Roman Republic who in 73 BC led a slave revolt that grew
to more than 120,000 fighters. Defying the Roman Republic’s
legions of soldiers, they campaigned for two years through much
of what is now Italy before succumbing to a much larger army.
The new series will tell a new set of stories rich in character,
action, sex and combat.
Anchor Bay Entertainment will hold exclusive worldwide home
entertainment distribution rights to “Spartacus,” while Starz
Media’s Worldwide Distribution group will handle international
television and domestic syndication sales and Starz Digital
Media will be responsible for all digital distribution globally.
About Starz Media
Starz Media, LLC, is a programming production and distribution
company operating worldwide. It includes the Film Roman, Anchor
Bay Entertainment, and Manga Entertainment brands. Its units
create animated and live-action programming — including
theatrical films — and programming created under contract for
other media companies. It distributes that programming, and
programming acquired from outside producers, through home video
retailers, theaters, broadcasters, ad supported and premium
television channels, and Internet and wireless video
distributors in the US and internationally. Starz Media (www.starzmedia.com)
is a controlled subsidiary of Liberty Media Corporation
attributed to the Liberty Capital Group.
About Starz Entertainment
Starz Entertainment, LLC, is a premium movie service provider
operating in the United States. It offers 16 movie channels
including the flagship Starz® and Encore® brands with
approximately 17.7 million and 31.7 million subscribers
respectively. Starz Entertainment airs more than 1,000 movies
per month across its pay TV channels and offers advanced
services including Starz HD, Encore HD, Starz On Demand, Encore
On Demand, MoviePlex On Demand, Starz HD On Demand, Encore HD On
Demand, MoviePlex HD On Demand, and Starz Play. Starz
Entertainment (www.starz.com) is an operating unit of Starz,
LLC, which is a controlled subsidiary of Liberty Media
Corporation, and is attributed to Liberty Entertainment Group, a
tracking stock group of Liberty Media Corporation.
For more about
Spartacus: Blood and Sand Visit the AUSXIP Spartacus: Blood and
Sand Site
