Beverly Hills, CA (March 30, 2010)Starz Entertainment has named Paradox Entertainment as the worldwide licensing agent for their original series hit “Spartacus: Blood and Sand.”
Fredrik Malmberg, President and CEO of Paradox Entertainment says, “We are very excited to be working with Starz on this unique series. The subject, style and cast of ‘Spartacus: Blood and Sand’ are ideal for licensed product.”
“Even before it premiered in January, ‘Spartacus: Blood and Sand’ generated passionate viewer reaction, with our audience responding to the series’ compelling story, strong characters and distinctive look and feel,” added Starz Entertainment Senior Vice President, Marketing, Ferrell McDonald. “The ratings have been very strong to-date and there is fan interest to match. We want to reward their interest with a range of products that please the fans and support the brand.”
Paradox Entertainment will be seeking to fill a broad range of product categories with quality manufacturers. All categories are currently open.
About “Spartacus: Blood and Sand”
Produced by Rob Tapert, Sam Raimi, Joshua Donen and Steven S. DeKnight, “Spartacus: Blood and Sand” is the most highly anticipated original series in the history of Starz. The 13-episode hour-long drama was renewed for an epic second season prior to the series premiere on January 22, 2010.
The UK-born and Australia-based Andy Whitfield portrays Spartacus, a soldier in the Roman Auxiliary who is taken prisoner. Lucy Lawless is cast as Lucretia, who along with her husband Batiatus (John Hannah), own the slave Spartacus and the gladiator camp where the former soldier learns the ways of the arena fighter. Additional cast members include: Erin Cummings as Spartacus’ Thracian wife, Sura; Peter Mensah as Doctore, Batiatus’ most loyal and trusted slave; Manu Bennett as Crixus, the top gladiator at Batiatus’ gladiator school; Antonio Te Maioha as Barca, who is Batiatus’ bodyguard and hit man; Craig Parker as Glaber, who blames Spartacus for his failed military campaign; and Nick E. Tarabay as Ashur, a former gladiator who is now the school’s resident bookie. Starz’ 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.
About Starz Entertainment
Starz Entertainment, LLC, is a premium movie service provider operating in the United States. It offers 16 movie channels including the flagship Starz® and Encore® brands with approximately 16.9 million and 30.6 million subscribers respectively. Starz Entertainment airs more than 1,000 movies and new original series every month across its pay TV channels and offers advanced services including Starz HD, Encore HD, Starz On Demand, Encore On Demand, MoviePlex On Demand, Starz HD On Demand, Encore HD On Demand, MoviePlex HD On Demand, and Starz Play. Starz Entertainment (www.starz.com) is an operating unit of Starz, LLC, which is a controlled subsidiary of Liberty Media Corporation, and is attributed to Liberty Starz, a tracking stock group of Liberty Media Corporation.
About Paradox Entertainment Inc.
PEI and its subsidiaries own, develop and license mainly character-based properties. The companies control the rights to stories and characters created by pulp author Robert E. Howard, including Conan, Kull, Bran Mak Morn and Solomon Kane. Industries exploiting the company property portfolio include film/TV, publishing, comics, videogame, Internet/mobile/wireless, toys, apparel, and more. PEI is based in Beverly Hills, California and is owned by Paradox Entertainment AB, a Swedish public company traded on the NASDAQ OMX-run First North Premier list (PDXE, SE0000598054).