Searching for 'Spartacus'

It's gory, gruesome, and grotesque -- and no, we're not talking about the newest show NBC just gave Hilary Duff.  Spartacus, the latest brainchild from the Starz network, is one of several new pilots set for production in an ambitious attempt to ramp up the premium cable channel's numbers in 2009.

The show, tapped for 12 episodes and penned by Steven S. DeKnight (Buffy, Smallville, 2009's Dollhouse), is hoping to fill the void left by King Leonidas and his 300, pairing the theme of massacre and macabre with a bit of a Tudors-esque flare.  For those actors that illegally read the breakdown, "There Is Nudity In This Project".

The show is set to shoot in New Zealand beginning in February, but Starz has yet to find its Spartacus.  In fact, no cast information has been released as of yet -- and even with the start date less than a month away, Spartacus's info has even eluded the credit-mongering IMDB.

At the very least, we know this: the pilot will be chock full of sex & violence [interchangeable, at will], 100% greenscreen-shot, and doesn't contain a poorly belting Lizzie McGuire.

Sounds like a winner to me.

-- Ashley Avis