June 2009 Archives   30 June 2009 Starz Spartacus Video Promo #1 Now Online The following promo is being shown on the Starz Network. As reported yesterday... Starz has been running a really short promo for Spartacus. It starts with title cards, "Coming in January" and "A new Starz original series." All the while what sounds like techno music is being playing with thunder and lighting in the background. Then "I burn for no cause but my own," is spoken by Andy Whitfield. Lighting punctuates the last part of the phrase with it striking what appears to be a colosseum. "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" is then shown. before it closes with the Starz logo and catchphrase, "Are you ready?" Many thanks to Emily for the news     30 June 2009 Starz Spartacus Comic Con Press Release Starz Announces Spartacus: Blood and Sand Panel at Comic Con '09 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" in January 2010 is produced by Starz Media with Executive Producers Rob Tapert, Sam Raimi and Joshua Donen. 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. This series, including 13 one-hour episodes, is executive produced by heavy-hitters Sam Raimi (Spider-Man and Evil Dead), Rob Tapert (The Grudge, "Xena: Warrior Princess" and "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys") and Steven DeKnight ("Smallville," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"). Production, based in New Zealand, runs through the end of October. Comic-Con '09 takes place on July 23rd to July 26th in San Diego, California. News submitted by Barbara Davies Related News: Starz Sends Stars And Producers to Comic Con Panel - 29 June 2009 Lucy Confirmed for Spartacus Panel at Comic Con - 15 June 2009 Spartacus at Comic-Con Panel Update - 2 June 2009 Lucy To Be Spartacus Panel at Comic Con - Unconfirmed - 23 May 2009     29 June 2009 Starz Spartacus Video Promo Starz has been running a really short promo for Spartacus. It starts with title cards, "Coming in January" and "A new Starz original series." All the while what sounds like techno music is being playing with thunder and lighting in the background. Then "I burn for no cause but my own," is spoken by Andy Whitfield. Lighting punctuates the last part of the phrase with it striking what appears to be a colosseum. "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" is then shown. before it closes with the Starz logo and catchphrase, "Are you ready?" Many thanks to Emily for the news     29 June 2009 Starz Sends Stars And Producers to Comic Con Panel Starz Sends 'Spartacus'' Lawless, Tapert, DeKnight to Comic-Con TVWeek Starz will give San Diego Comic-Con International attendees a first look at its new series "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" on July 24. The network will present a panel with stars Lucy Lawless, Peter Mensah, Andy Whitfield and executive producers Rob Tapert and Steven S. DeKnight. The panel will also feature the unveiling of an exclusive comic book mini-series inspired by the series with a special Comic-Con cover from Devil's Due Publishing. The series is slated to premiere in January 2010. Source News submitted by Barbara Davies     25 June 2009 Spartacus Volume 1: The Blood and Sand Tales The first volume in the Spartacus Blood and Sand comic series Volume 1 is scheduled to be released on 1 February 2010 by Diamond Comic Distributors, Incorporated. You can pre-order this now at chapter Format:Trade Paperback Published:February 1, 2010 Dimensions:144 Pages, 0 x 0 x 0 in Publisher:Diamond Comic Distributors, Incorporated The following ISBNs are associated with this title: ISBN - 10:1934692859 ISBN - 13:9781934692851 From the Publisher The companion Graphic Novel to the hit TV series from Starz Media! In one such tale, Arkadios is a once-proud Greek warrior that now finds himself enslaved by the Romans. Now he dreams of only one thing: revenge! He''ll cut the head from his captor, even if he has to chop a gory-swath through an arena full of gladiators just to get there. Click here to pre-order     17 June 2009 Lucy Talks About Working on Spartacus Lucy Lawless has posted a new message on her official site about working on Spartacus and relocating from Hollywood back to Auckland, New Zealand. Part of the message related to Spartacus is: The lead role is played by Andy Whitfield.  He is a great star on and off-camera.  I love what he brings to the role.  He is a gentleman and a family man and I think that is what gives his character so much depth.  Naturally, he's bloody handsome to boot. I am playing Lucretia, the Lady Macbeth character.  I can't distill her down in a blog, but it's a terrific role and I am proud of the work I am doing.  My husband, Batiatus, is played by John Hannah, who is a scream... Read more of Lucy's message on her site     15 June 2009 Lucy Confirmed for Spartacus Panel at Comic Con It has just been announced by Sharon Delaney via the Official Lucy List that Lucy will be at the Spartacus panel at Comic Con. Unfortunately for those wishing to go all 4 days of the convention have been sold out. AUSXIP sidekicks LB and Annie will be at the convention and hopefully bring back some pics and a report from the panel. A little backstory to this confirmation: On 23 May 2009 Rachel Stavis who is overseeing the Spartacus: Blood and Sand comic mini-series for Devil's Due mentioned that Lucy was going to be at the Spartacus panel at Comic-Com. The following message was posted on 23 May 2009: Lucy is mentioned as being a panelist at the upcoming 2009 Comic-Con Spartacus panel. This hasn't been officiallly confirmed as yet but here is the message from Rachel Stavis on her Twitter account: Rachel Stavis is overseeing the Spartacus: Blood and Sand comic mini-series for Devil's Due: Hey guys! This just in: I'll be on the Comic-Con Spartacus panel! Lucy Lawless, Sam Raimi, and more! Come see us! #SDCC about 11 hours ago from TweetDeck Rachel Stavis has updated her twitter page on 01 June 2009 with the following message: #Spartacus panel confirmed for Friday at #SDCC! Come see us! Read more about Lucy's role on Spartacus: Blood And Sand by going to the AUSXIP Lucy Lawless Blood and Sand Subsite Related News Spartacus at Comic-Con Panel Update - 2 June 2009 Lucy To Be Spartacus Panel at Comic Con - Unconfirmed - 23 May 2009     11 June 2009 Spartacus Comic Series Interview with RH Stavis Play Magazine has interviewed RH Stavis who is cross media writer. She writes DF/F/H/SciFi movies, TV, videogames, comics, and novels and is currently working on Spartacus: Blood and Sand Comic Series for Devil's Due. Your latest project has you working with some pretty heavy hitters in Hollywood too, including Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert. So what can you tell us about Spartacus: Blood and Sand? Spartacus: Blood and Sand is a new Ghost House [Raimi and Tapert's film studio] television series that will air on Starz. Of course, as the title suggests, it follows the rise of Spartacus, but in a VERY new and exciting way. The show is extremely visceral and graphic, concentrating on the real elements of life as a gladiator, but in a cool comic book style, sort of like 300. It's edgy, dark, and sexy ... I think that's a great combination! How did you first get attached to the comic from Devil's Due, and what's it been like working on the series? I actually spent time talking to Executive Producer, Steven S. DeKnight when he began working on Spartacus. He really wanted to create a comic series that was based in the same world, but stood on its own, told new stories, focused on different characters, but had the same cool elements as the show. He wanted me involved and the first thing I did was contact Josh Blaylock over at Devil's Due, because I know Josh is not adverse to serious violence and nudity ... a MUST for the comic series. It's been a great experience. We've been pouring over artists and writers, working hard to create a book readers will enjoy. Steven wrote the first one himself ... fans will recognize him from the Buffy Season 8 [comic] series. We've also got the great Jimmy Palmiotti lined up, so our stories are simply amazing. I can't wait until its debut at San Diego Comic-Con. What can fans expect to see in the comic that they might miss in the series? It's different. People will see other facets of the world [and] emphasis on other characters. But I do think if people read the series and watch the show, they'll probably have a deeper understanding of both. <Snipped> Just make sure you stop by and say hi at [San Diego] Comic-Con. Our Spartacus panel is on Friday [July 25th], and there will be a signing after, so I'd love to see you all! Also, for up to the minute info on cool stuff, please follow me on Twitter at "RHStavis". You know, for when I can actually confirm said rumors. <Snipped>   Read the full interview News submitted by Barbara Davies     9 June 2009 Michael Hurst To Direct More Spartacus Episodes Michael Hurst's official site has been updated with the news that Michael will be directing more than one episode of Spartacus. On 25 May, I posted the news that Michael was going to be directing episode 1.5. The following is the updated information: Michael is directing episode 1.5 of the new American tv show Spartacus: Blood and Sand for Starz Productions.  He will be directing additional episodes later in the year.  Spartacus will be shown on the Starz premium cable channel in the US beginning January 2010.      2 June 2009 Spartacus at Comic-Con Panel Update The following was posted on Twitter about the upcoming Comic Con panel. No confirmation as yet on the previous post about Lucy being present. #Spartacus panel confirmed for Friday at #SDCC! Come see us!  about 12 hours ago from web RHStavis Related Posts Lucy To Be Spartacus Panel at Comic Con - Unconfirmed - 23 May 2009 News submitted by Barbara Davies     Read More Archives