Sunday, June 10, 2012

HOLLYWOOD SPY'S EXCLUSIVE SPOTLIGHT ON STARZ' FUTURE SHOWS: EXOTIC "HAREM", EPIC "MARCO POLO", ADVENTUROUS "DA VINCI'S DEMONS", PIRATE SET "BLACK SAILS"

Well, you know by now that Starz is one of HOLLYWOOD SPY's favourite channels. They know that we love epic adventure and they give it to us in their shows,
mostly in the amazing SPARTACUS saga which is getting it's third and final season next year. But what are some other Starz' series coming up in the future?

SULEY MAN'S HAREM
Definitely the most interesting of the upcoming Starz' projects, at least if you ask HOLLYWOOD SPY, is HAREM mini series which will be putting its lens on the Ottoman Empire. In cooperation with BBC Worldwide Productions they are developing a potential six-hour miniseries exploring the reign of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent and the rise and fall of the Ottoman Empire. Based on an idea by actress Gina Gershon, the series will probably be penned by "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe" scribe Ann Peacock. HAREM will tell the story of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent, the longest-reigning sultan of the Ottoman Empire who reconstructed its legal system and presided over the fleet's annexation of most of the Middle East. He was also a tyrant who enslaved half of Europe with fear and sword. The story would also revolve around Roxelana, a beautiful young slave girl from Ukraine whose ambitions knew no bounds and whose marriage to Suleyman
 kicked off what became known as the "Reign of Women" when she became a sultana. It is interesting that the topic of the six hour series has already been covered in extremely lavish Turkish MAGNIFICENT CENTURY soap opera, which has had four seasons so far and has become a huge TV hit around the Balkans.

DA VINCI'S DEMONS
An exciting and entertaining mix of a futuristic mind and medieval setting will be seen in DA VINCI'S DEMONS. Young Brit star Tom Riley (MONROE and LOST IN AUSTEN) will be playing the brash and brilliant 25 year old artist, inventor, swordsman, lover, dreamer and idealist Leonardo da Vinci during his turbulent youth in Renaissance Florence. He is described as being the Renaissance version of our 
modern day Tony Stark as he struggles to live within the confines of his own reality and time and begins to see and invent the future. So a man with lots of modern gadgets living in an old  century. Drop dead gorgeous Laura Haddock (UPSTAIRS DOWN STAIRS, THE PALACE) will take the lead female role of Lucrezia Donati, the mistress of Lorenzo Medici and lover of da Vinci.

MARCO POLO
Another epic show next year at Starz will be on famous 13th century explorer MARCO POLO in the form of a fantastical martial arts epic,
 chronicling the famous adventurer's early years in the court of Kublai Khan. Acting as the ruler's spy, ambassador and explorer, Marco treks across the Far East and returns with tales of his journeys. In a court filled with political betrayal and forbidden relationships, Marco must use his martial arts training to survive, but it is his ability to enchant Khan with imaginative tales of his kingdom that is often his best tool to stay alive. Wowza, sounds totally like my cup of tea! It will be produced by the Weinstein company and written and created by John Fusco (HIDALGO)! The show should have about ten episodes and we are patiently waiting to hear the first casting news!

 BLACK SAILS
In the sea of new pirate shows  (you remember that NBC is preparing REPUBLIC OF PIRATES, Sky is preparing SINBAD, and Fox is doing PORT ROYALE) Starz will offer us BLACK SAILS to be produced by famous Michael Bay for airing in 8 episodes in 2014. They're already preparing the 8 episode show set 20 years before the events in Robert Louis Stevenson’s "Treasure Island" and chronicling the adventures of Captain Flint, a smooth, fast talking pirate who’ll have a new member of his crew – John Silver. Together, they will fight for New Providence Island. The island is something of a paradise for society’s underbelly. It’s filled with thieves, prostitutes, fortune seekers, and of course, pirates. SPARTACUS  
creator, Steven DeKnight has recently revealed that he had the honour to read BLACK SAILS pilot and that he loved it so much that he is kicking himself for not coming up with it himself.

32 comments:

  1. Da Vinci's Demons should be pretty sweet, and I like the sound of Marco Polo too. Good stuff for the Game of Thrones shaped void in our lives :)

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    1. and no love for my fave HAREM? :) Pffft....
      I can't wait to see whom they will chose for MARCO POLO, Oh, let it be Kyle Prior Tom Austen or some similar young talent!

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    2. Did you know, when Harem will be aired?

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    3. so far, both HAREM and MARCO POLO are just a plan, they haven't been put into preproduction :( Maybe in upcoming years.

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  2. WTF, I thought Leonardo da Vinci was gay?

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    1. indeed he was, my Lesbian sister, but the world obviously isn't yet prepared to see a gay hero of an epic show.

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  3. Harem and Black Sails looks like they should be pretty good :)

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  4. Love the sound of all of those. I do love me some epic sized historical shows. And what cool pictures you found for Harem. Beautiful. :))

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    1. I did pay special attention to choosing HAREM pics, you know :) And I must admit I deeply enjoyed doing it and writing the whole post, and it was a real pleasure after a very long dry period when it comes to film and TV news. And when we get first pics and clips and casting news.... oh,oh,oh... :)

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  5. Tom Riley will be amazing as DaVinci

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  6. I wish marco polo was that cool in real history

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    1. he was rather interesting, he brought to Europe so many things which we use today as well...

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  7. You know all of those shows sound like they may actually be good. Which is a rare thing as there is usually one that immediately sounds like crap, should be interesting to see how they turn out.

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    1. Yep, there's a bright future for us at Starz :)

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  8. What a great update Dez ~ You make all the upcoming movies/series so exciting to watch out for ~I specially like Harem ~

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    1. I'm also very happy with today's update :) and especially with HAREM!

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  9. the new da vinci thing looks pretty awesome i quite like Tom Riley

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  10. Black Sails actually seems to be a very good sort of different. Actually, all of those shows seem to be different. Modern day Stark? Count me in with that show!!

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    1. that's why we like Starz, they bring us different things :)

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  11. Hello! Good Pictures of Spartacus. Follow

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    1. oh, Damon, you've been following me for two years almost...

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  12. Da Vinci demons looks interesting...I will be waiting for that one

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  13. da vinci sounds interesting, thanks for sharing

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  14. I always love your spotlights, Dezz. Wow, are there some great shows lined up for Starz. Magnificent Century sounds deliciously fantastic and I hope that I will eventually be able to see it here.

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    1. thank you my dear, I really enjoyed writing and editing this one, too bad Sunday never gets enough comments :(

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  15. Pirates' pubic hair hahahaha I thought I'd seen it all. Well, as long as Geena Davis isn't in it, I'd say thumbs up....

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    Replies
    1. we do love pubic hair in any shape and we love to show it here :)

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