'Spartacus' unshackled with Starz

October 27, 2008 Starz is bringing "Spartacus" to life on the small screen, greenlighting a 13-episode series from executive producers Sam Raimi, Rob Tapert and Joshua Donen. Steven S. DeKnight ("Smallville") has signed on as head writer and showrunner of the hourlong series, set in the brutal world of gladiators, said Starz Entertainment executive vp programming Stephan Shelanski. "Spartacus" marks Starz's second original drama after "Crash" and the first drama to be produced in-house by sibling studio Starz Media, under the supervision of executive vp original production William Hamm, who previously was executive vp television at Raimi's Ghost House Pictures and brought the project to the channel.

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