By April MacIntyre Jul 25, 2009, 0:47 GMT
Calling all old HBO "Rome" fans, do you miss the bloody, visceral and sexy series that featured some of the finest actors and production values around for a smallscreen effort?
The tale is legend: Betrayed by his country. Beaten into slavery. Reborn as a warrior. "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" is a graphic and visceral account of Romes most famous gladiator. Premieres January 2010 on Starz
The new Starz series hearkens that luxe film feel and raw action in their latest effort, "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" which stole some thunder today at Comic-Con; hard to do on Star Wars day.
The tale is legend: Betrayed by his country. Beaten into slavery. Reborn as a warrior. "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" is a graphic account of Rome's most famous gladiator. Premieres this January 2010 on Starz.
Here is the official trailer that rolled out today at the Con:
From Starz, The Premise:
The UK-born and Australia-based Andy Whitfield portrays Spartacus, a soldier in the Roman Auxiliary who is taken prisoner. As punishment for defying a Roman Legate, Spartacus is sentenced to die in the gladiator arena. But after surviving numerous fights, his sentence is commuted and is sold as a slave to be trained as a gladiator. 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 Officein 2007. He recently wrapped shooting on the Australian feature, The Clinic.
Lawless is cast as Lucretia, who along with her husband Batiatus (John Hannah), own the slave Spartacus and the Ludus (a gladiator camp) where the former soldier learns the ways of the arena fighter. 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 Syfy’s critically acclaimed “Battlestar Galactica.”
Hannah is the BAFTA Film Awards nominee best known for his work in The Mummy trilogy as well as Four Weddings and a Funeral and on a number of successful British TV series, including “Rebus,” “New Street Law” and “MDs.”
Additional cast members include: Cummings as Spartacus’ Thracian wife, Sura; Mensah 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.
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