The Spartacus TV series is getting revived at Starz. Variety reports that Steven S. DeKnight, who co-created Spartacus with Sam Raimi, is set to develop a sequel series to revive the franchise. DeKnight will be serving as showrunner on the new series, which is set after the defeat of Spartacus. According to the logline, the sequel series will follow “a new tale of treachery, deceit, and blood unfolding beneath the foreboding shadow of Rome.”
“It’s such an incredible honor to be invited to return to the world of Spartacus and to be met with unbridled creative support from my colleagues at Starz and Lionsgate,” DeKnight said in a statement. “Together we are crafting something truly unique and unusual for the next chapter in this epic story.”
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Starz president or original programming, Kathryn Busby, added: “It has been over a decade since Spartacus delighted international audiences and we are thrilled to reimagine and expand this gripping, action-packed drama for our viewers today. Spartacus has deeply invested fans who are eager for its return, and we look forward to working with Steven on this exciting next chapter.”
The new series will be executive produced by DeKnight. Kairen Bailey, Giovanna Desselle, and Alex Alberts will oversee the project on behalf of Starz while Scott Herbst and Jocelyn Sabo will oversee for Lionsgate.
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Spartacus Returns After a Decade
Starz
The show is inspired by the story of the gladiator Spartacus, who led a slaev uprising against the Romans from 73 to 71 BC. The first season of Spartacus, dubbed Spartacus: Blood and Sand, premiered on Starz in 2010. This was followed up with a prequel miniseries, dubbed Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, in 2011. The main series returned in 2012 with its second season, christened Spartacus: Vengeance. Its story was then closed out in 2013 with season 3, called Spartacus: War of the Damned, at which point it had seemed that the story was over.
At the time, the news that Spartacus was getting canceled shocked fans, as the series was popular with fans. DeKnight said in a THR interview that he wanted the series to end on a high note rather than having to “limp tot he finish line.” He suggested that he had envisioned going five seasons, but became concerned that they were running out of compelling story to tell before getting to that point. Perhaps now that he’s had a decade to think up some new ideas, the right concept came in for the revival.
“I’ve always thought that five seasons was the perfect number; you’ve got enough time to tell a great story, but there’s not so much real estate that you start to get a little flabby in the middle,” he said in the 2012 interview. “My original thought was that this show could go five to seven seasons, but we realized the actual history is very scattershot: The rebels went north, south, east, west, then back north, then broke apart, came back together.”
He continued, “We thought, instead of repeating ourselves with one wave of Roman senators after another going after Spartacus, getting defeated, going after Spartacus, getting defeated, why not really condense the story, give the juiciest parts to Marcus Crassus (Simon Merrells). It’s like The Princess Bride: Cut out all the boring bits and just make the best, most rip-roaring-est tale we can to wrap up the series.”
The Spartacus sequel series doesn’t yet have an official title or premiere date.
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