Spartacus (TV series)

For the miniseries, see Spartacus (miniseries).

Spartacus
Season 1 intertitle
GenreHistorical drama
Sword-and-sandal[1]
Created bySteven S. DeKnight
Sam Raimi
Starring
ComposerJoseph LoDuca
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons3 and a prequel miniseries
No. of episodes39 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
Producers
Production locationNew Zealand
CinematographyAaron Morton
Editors
  • Gary Hunt
  • Jonathan Woodford-Robinson
Running time49–64 minutes
Production companies
Original release
NetworkStarz
ReleaseJanuary 22, 2010 (2010-01-22) –
April 12, 2013 (2013-04-12)
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

Spartacus is an American historical drama television series filmed in New Zealand that premiered on Starz on January 22, 2010, and concluded on April 12, 2013. The series was inspired by historical figure, Spartacus, a Thracian gladiator who from 73 to 71 BC led a major slave uprising against the Roman Republic departing from Capua. Executive producers Steven S. DeKnight and Robert Tapert focused on structuring the events of Spartacus' obscure early life leading up to the beginning of historical records.[2]

After Spartacus: Blood and Sand, production for another season was delayed because lead actor Andy Whitfield was diagnosed with early-stage non-Hodgkin lymphoma so Starz produced a six-episode prequel miniseries entitled Spartacus: Gods of the Arena. When the actor's cancer recurred and he later succumbed to the disease on September 11, 2011,[3] Starz had actor Liam McIntyre take on the role of Spartacus in the second season titled Spartacus: Vengeance.[4][5] On June 4, 2012, Starz announced the third and final season, titled Spartacus: War of the Damned.[6][7] A sequel series called Spartacus: House of Ashur is in development at Starz, with DeKnight returning to write for the show.

  1. ^ Stackhouse, Ray. "Spartacus: Blood and Sand — Overview". AllMovie. Archived from the original on November 30, 2010. Retrieved September 27, 2010.
  2. ^ Interview: Steven S. DeKnight and Robert Tapert from Spartacus: Blood And Sand Archived August 18, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (September 18, 2010). "'Spartacus' Star Andy Whitfield's Cancer Is Back: Won't Return Next Season To Series". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on November 17, 2020. Retrieved September 18, 2010.
  4. ^ Crumpley, Elliot (January 18, 2011). "Liam McIntyre confirmed to take over Spartacus role". College News. Archived from the original on July 24, 2011. Retrieved January 18, 2011.
  5. ^ Video on YouTube
  6. ^ "News". Archived from the original on February 24, 2014. Retrieved December 29, 2016.
  7. ^ "News". Archived from the original on February 24, 2014. Retrieved December 29, 2016.