Smallscreen News

Ian McShane back in Starz 'Pillars of Earth'

By April MacIntyre Jun 8, 2010, 17:08 GMT

06/03/2010 - Ridley Scott and Gianina Facio - "The A-Team" Los Angeles Premiere - Arrivals - Grauman\'s Chinese Theater - Hollywood, CA. USA © Albert L. Ortega / PR Photos

Filmmakers Tony and Ridley Scott, along with Starz network, bring Ken Follett's "The Pillars of the Earth" to TV July 23 at 10pm et/pt.

The eight-part series stars Ian McShane, Rufus Sewell, Donald Sutherland, Eddie Redmayne and Alison Pill.

“Ken Follett’s storytelling artistry presents a richness and brilliance we dream about when searching for outstanding properties for event television,“ says Ridley Scott of Scott Free. “The eight-hour television adaptation of his monumental novel ‘The Pillars of the Earth‘ is everything we could have hoped for and we’re extremely happy that Starz will be presenting ‘Pillars‘ to a U.S. audience.”

“I am delighted with the series of “The Pillars of the Earth” — script, cast, direction, everything — and thrilled that it is going to be shown on Starz”, world-renowned author Ken Follett says.

Starz will air a two-hour premiere of the series, produced by Tandem Communications, MUSE Entertainment and Ridley and Tony Scott’s Scortt Free Films.

Starz_Pillars

The cost: $40 million

The crew: DGA three time award-winner Sergio Mimica-Gezzan (“Heroes,” “Into the West”)

The location: Hungary and Austria

The cast: Ian McShane, Rufus Sewell, Matthew Macfadyen, Eddie Redmayne, Hayley Atwell, Sarah Parish, Donald Sutherland, Alison Pill and Gordon Pinsent.

The premise: A sweeping epic of good and evil, treachery and intrigue, violence and beauty, a sensuous, spirited story set against a backdrop of war, religious strife and power struggles in 12th Century England. Ken Follett’s book, first published in 1989, has sold more than 14 million copies worldwide and been published in more than 30 languages. The 60th selection in Oprah Winfrey’s Book Club, the books sold upwards of 1.4 million copies in the U.S. the day after it was featured on her show in 2007.