Steven is interviewed by Cinema Blend about the soon to premiere Spartacus: Vengeance and mentioned Rob:

And when you're on the set, like in the first episode we see that epic brothel site, were you there on set for that or in, you know, similar instances when you look around and you go, wow. You know, what goes through your head when you see it all come to life?

Sadly on this show, since we shoot in New Zealand and we write the show in Los Angeles, I don't get a chance to be on the set as much as I would like. I love being on the set. Rob Tapert, my producing partner and husband of course to the amazing Lucy Lawless, he spearheads production down in New Zealand and he keeps a magnificent eye on all of that and I just can't say enough good things about Rob. Without him there wouldn't be a Spartacus.

One of the big questions that I have about the show is what do you feel like the evolution of the series has been up to this point? I mean, you talked a bit about kind of the rocky start at the beginning of the series and kind of finding a vision for it. What do you feel like that is now? Steven S. DeKnight: Yes, when we first started off, you know, this was Rob Tapert and Josh Donen and Sam Raimi and I, this was our first foray into premium cable. And, you know, suddenly the shackles were off and I can't speak for my partners, but I think I stripped down naked and ran a little crazy through the streets in the first couple of episodes before I found the right tone.

Writers always say that as they develop a series, they pick up things from the actors and incorporate them into the way they kind of deal with the characters and stuff, so I was wondering if there are any changes or different approaches now that you've switched from (Andy) to Liam.

That's a good question. Actually no. We had a discussion before we started writing this season of should we tailor the show for Liam. And my feeling and Rob and STARZ, we all agreed, was that no, what we should do is write Spartacus as Spartacus and Liam will bring what he brings to it and it will be a different take, but what he says - what Spartacus says and what he does will still be consistent with the Spartacus that we know.

Read full interview

Sony has announced the release date for The Evil Dead remake. As previously announced it will be directed by Fede Alvarez and produced by Rob Tapert, Sam Raim and Bruce Campbell. The movie will make it's debut on 12 April 2013 and filming will begin in New Zealand in March 2012 according to Sony.

The Evil Dead

Release Date: 12 April 2013
Studio: Sony Pictures
Director: Fede Alvarez
Screenwriter: Fede Alvarez, Rodo Sayagues, Diablo Cody
Starring: No Cast as yet
Genre: Horror

Five twenty-something friends who become holed up in a remote cabin where they discover a Book Of The Dead. An archaeologist's tape recording reveals that the ancient text was discovered among the Khandarian ruins of a Sumerian civilization. Playing the taped incantations, the youths unwittingly summon up dormant demons living in the nearby woods, which possess the youngsters in succession until only one is left intact to fight for survival.


On 01 December 2011 the official press release was sent out:

Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions (SPWA) and FilmDistrict have partnered with Ghost House Pictures on a worldwide deal?excluding U.K. and France for Sony Pictures to distribute the remake of Evil Dead. The announcement was made by Steven Bersch, SPWA President, and Peter Schlessel, CEO of FilmDistrict. Lia Buman, FilmDistrict's EVP of Acquisitions, will oversee the project.

Original producing partners Rob Tapert, Bruce Campbell (who also starred in the original franchise) and Sam Raimi will produce. Ghost House Pictures partners Joe Drake and Nathan Kahane will executive produce. Nicole Brown and J.R. Young will oversee the project for Ghost House.

Rob Tapert stated, "For 30 years, Sam, Bruce and I have been looking for the right home where we could return the deadites to the big screen. Amy Pascal and Jeff Blake at Sony and Peter Schlessel at FilmDistrict have always been incredible partners who share our passion for great storytelling as well as our obsession for scaring the pants off the audience. Together, we are looking forward to terrorizing a whole new generation."

Read More

GHOST HOUSE PICTURES PARTNERS
WITH SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT AND FILMDISTRICT ON EVIL DEAD

Culver City, CA (November 30, 2011) – Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions (SPWA) and FilmDistrict have partnered with Ghost House Pictures on a worldwide deal—excluding U.K. and France —for Sony Pictures to distribute the remake of Evil Dead. The announcement was made by Steven Bersch, SPWA President, and Peter Schlessel, CEO of FilmDistrict. Lia Buman, FilmDistrict’s EVP of Acquisitions, will oversee the project.

Original producing partners Rob Tapert, Bruce Campbell (who also starred in the original franchise) and Sam Raimi will produce. Ghost House Pictures partners Joe Drake and Nathan Kahane will executive produce. Nicole Brown and J.R. Young will oversee the project for Ghost House.

Rob Tapert stated, “For 30 years, Sam, Bruce and I have been looking for the right home where we could return the deadites to the big screen. Amy Pascal and Jeff Blake at Sony and Peter Schlessel at FilmDistrict have always been incredible partners who share our passion for great storytelling as well as our obsession for scaring the pants off the audience. Together, we are looking forward to terrorizing a whole new generation.”

Added Schlessel, “I have been part of the extended Ghost House family for a long time. It’s fantastic to continue the relationship as we bring this classic horror film to a new generation of fans.”

“Sony Pictures has a fantastic history collaborating with both Ghost House and Film District and we couldn’t be more excited to continue working together on the contemporary adaptation of Evil Dead,” said Jeff Blake, Chairman of Sony Pictures Worldwide Marketing and Distribution. “Sam and Rob have an extraordinary vision and we can’t wait to share this film with audiences in most territories throughout the world.”

Fede Alvarez, who will direct the film, wrote the script with Rodo Sayagues. Academy Award® winning screenwriter Diablo Cody did revisions on the draft. Ghost House, FilmDistrict and SPWA are committed to renewing the franchise and have the film on the fast track towards a 2012 production start.

Often imitated, never equaled. Evil Dead was the horror movie that started it all. Now, after 30 years, Raimi and the original creators are passing the reins of their beloved classic to Alvarez. In this retelling, five friends hole up at a remote cabin where they discover a Book of the Dead. A demonic force is unleashed possessing each until only one is left to fight for survival.

Rob is going to be attending the 2011 Asia-Pacific Producers Network Symposium on 13 November for a panel on Production in New Zealand.

Sunday 13 November - Panel 1: Production in New Zealand
Robin Scholes (Eyeworks), John Barnett (South Pacific Pictures), Leanne Saunders (Headstrong / Severe Films), Rob Tapert (Renaissance Pictures)

China Film Bureau Deputy Director General, Mao Yu, has confirmed his attendance at the 2011 Asia-Pacific Producers Network Symposium adding to an already impressive line up of more than 20 international delegates from Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand alongside the cream of the New Zealand production sector.

The symposium is now just three weeks away and there are limited places still available for New Zealand industry to attend.

This is a not-to-be missed event with a world-class programme of speakers, both international and domestic, discussing production, co-production and post-production in the Asia-Pacific region.

Rub shoulders with top screen producers including Rob Tapert (Xena:Warrior Princess, Spartacus), Robin Scholes (Mr Pip, Once Were Warriors,), Trevor Haysom (In My Father's Den), John Barnett (Whale Rider), Shogo Tomiyama (Ring, Seven Samurai), Jin Choi (Shiri, Taeguki) and Satoru Iseki (The World's Fastest Indian).

There will also be industry representatives from the NZ Film Commission, Film NZ, Park Road Post Production, Images and Sound and Digipost. Don?t miss out on this exceptional opportunity to explore key issues alongside the leaders of Asia's booming film industry.

For more info on how to register visit: www.filmauckland.com/apn

The symposium is made possible with the generous support of core funder Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development, gold sponsor UNITEC, funding partners Film New Zealand, the Ministry of Economic Development, the New Zealand Film Commission and New Zealand Trade and Enterprise and bronze sponsors ANZ, Digipost, Images and Sound and Pieter Holl & Associates.

news submitted by Barbara Davies

Gladiators Return to STARZ in 2012
"Spartacus" Renewed For Season Three
Green Light Comes Months Prior to "Spartacus: Vengeance" Premiere

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., Nov. 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The most celebrated STARZ Originals franchise, "Spartacus," will continue to wow audiences worldwide with a renewal secured for a thrilling and bloody third season. The green light comes well in advance of "Spartacus: Vengeance," which will debut exclusively on STARZ - Friday, January 27, 2012 at 10PM ET/PT.

As yet untitled, production on the third season of "Spartacus" is expected to begin in New Zealand in early 2012.

Starz Media Managing Director Carmi Zlotnik commented, "There is no denying the impact 'Spartacus' has had in the marketplace with fans across the globe thirsting for the continuation of the epic tale. 'Vengeance' brings unparalleled action and drama to STARZ viewers in January. We are thrilled to come to an early agreement that allows the writers and talent to get right back to work in preparing for season three."

"Many surprises are in store for 'Vengeance' viewers this year, but rest assured the multi-layered plot and richly developed characters will continue to be a trademark of this series," said Rob Tapert, executive producer. "It's incredibly gratifying to see how the story has resonated so well with viewers worldwide."

"The executives at Starz have been extremely supportive in giving us creative freedom and allowing us to tell the story in a rich, yet bold way that leaves an indelible mark on its fans," added Steven S. DeKnight, executive producer.

Rob will attend the 2011 SPADA conference in Auckland from 10-11 November 2011. During the 2010 SPADA conference, SPADA presented Rob the Onfilm/SPADA Industry Champion Award.

SPADA members include producers, directors, production companies and allied craft professionals working in film, television, TVC, video, post-production, animation and interactive media; lawyers and accountants, completion guarantors, and industry suppliers.

They gave Rob the award because In 17 years of operating in New Zealand, he had enabled the growth of local infrastructure and the development of skills by providing the projects, the challenges, the training and the promotions, while continually raising the bar. He has been responsible for the careers of thousands of kiwis, all the while developing new ways of making television. He is respected and loved amongst kiwi crews for his innovation, generosity and humour, as well as his enormous contribution to the growth of the industry in this country.

PRESS RELEASE:
Four days of film puts spotlight on Auckland

This November, an unprecedented series of film industry events is taking place in Auckland involving renowned members of the local and international screen industry.

From 10 - 11 November the annual SPADA conference takes place at the SkyCity Convention Centre. The Aotearoa Film & Television Awards are also on with the Craft awards taking place on 10 November followed by the Gala Awards Ceremony at the Viaduct Events Centre on 12 November. Capping off this stellar week of activity, the 2011 Asia-Pacific Producers' Network (APN) Symposium takes centre stage from 11 - 13 November with the main forum on 13 November at UNITEC. The symposium is being hosted in New Zealand for the first time by Film Auckland.

China Film Bureau Deputy Director General, Mao Yu, has confirmed his attendance at the 2011 APN Symposium adding to an already impressive line up of more than 30 international delegates from Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand alongside the cream of the New Zealand production sector.

There are still limited places available at the symposium which features a world-class programme of speakers, both international and domestic, discussing production, co-production and post-production in the Asia-Pacific region.

Network with top screen producers including Rob Tapert (Xena:Warrior Princess, Spartacus), Robin Scholes (Mr Pip, Once Were Warriors), Trevor Haysom (In My Father's Den), John Barnett (Whale Rider), Shogo Tomiyama (Ring, Seven Samurai) and James Choi (Shiri, Taeguki).

There will also be industry representatives from the NZ Film Commission, Film NZ, Park Road Post Production, Images and Sound and Digipost.

Michael Brook, Film Auckland Manager, encourages the New Zealand film industry to register for the APN Symposium.

"It's a great opportunity to showcase to the APN members why New Zealand has done so well on the world stage in film by hosting them here in our own backyard," says Michael.

"Don't miss out on this exceptional opportunity to explore key issues alongside the leaders of Asia's booming film industry and make invaluable connections."

APN was formed in 2005 to encourage co-productions, collaboration and joint projects. The forum offers a chance to develop relationships and generate new projects and partnerships between the film and screen industry across the Asia-Pacific region.

"Delegates are looking for New Zealand partners to make English language films that appeal to wider markets than their own. We encourage New Zealand's screen industry to take advantage of this unique opportunity and register for the forum now," says Paul Carran, President of APN.

says, "The screen industry in is a key export earner. Film has been developing networks in Asia with both industry and government over a number of years and is proud to be hosting this important industry event."

The symposium is made possible with the generous support of core funder Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development, gold sponsor UNITEC, funding partners Film New Zealand, the Ministry of Economic Development, the New Zealand Film Commission and New Zealand Trade and Enterprise and bronze sponsors ANZ, Digipost, Images and Sound and Pieter Holl & Associates.

For more information and to register visit www.filmauckland.com/apn.

Rob was a guest speaker at the Thrive International convention on 20 October 2011. For one whole day on October 20 business people from throughout the world will be soaking up the wisdom and the lessons from 17 international business leaders at Thrive International in Auckland, New Zealand.

Thrive is about celebrating NZ business success and innovation. It is an entertaining, action packed experience, which showcases Kiwi businesses that have achieved success locally and internationally. Thrive incorporates a powerful line up of industry leaders and experts who will share years of knowledge and experience in managing finances, people, marketing and technology. Icons of Kiwi enterprise will inspire, inform and give you the essential drive to take your business to the next level. This year THRIVE will have an International twist and will take place in October taking advantage of the International business leaders who will be in New Zealand at the time

His presentation was on Big Dreams & Silver Screens: Spartacus and the Business of storytelling

Spartacus, Xena, Hercules - the story behind the heroes
Business & creativity - making the ends meet
Understanding a global marketplace & seizing your moment

Lucy Lawless has posted a review of her husband's presentation on her official site. Check it out here

His Bio on the Thrive Site reads:

Rob Tapert is the longstanding producing partner of acclaimed director Sam Raimi. Tapert and Raimi have been working together since they met at Michigan State University. After producing the horror cult classic Evil Dead, they collaborated on Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn, Darkman and Army of Darkness.

Tapert was the executive producer on Hard Target and Timecop. He also executive produced the worldwide sensation TV series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess.

In 2002, Tapert and Raimi formed Ghost House Pictures which was conceived to produce feature films that would deliver great scares and offer horror fans a thrill ride experience. Tapert has since produced a string of #1 box office hits; The Grudge, Boogeyman, The Messengers and 30 Days of Night and Drag Me To Hell.

Tapert recently produced the TV series The Legend of the Seeker. He is currently producing the second season of the hit series Spartacus.

Source

As previously announced Rob Tapert's classic Evil Dead is set for a reboot. Bruce Campbell was starred in Rob and Sam's movie as Ash, has revealed that Ash will not be back.

This comes as a huge surprise/shock to many Evil Dead movie fans and Bruce Campbell fans since Ash an iconic action hero in the movie.

Evil Dead was created by Rob Tapert and Sam Raimi back in 1981. The movie is about five friends go up to a cabin in the woods where they find unspeakable evil lurking in the forest. They find the Necronomicon and the taped translation of the text. Once the tape is played, the evil is released. One by one, the teens are possessed. With only one remaining, it is up to him to survive the night and battle the evil dead.

Bruce tweeted the following:
GroovyBruce Bruce Campbell ?@Shipwreck2k: That's the first i've heard of the remake.. Who are they casting for ash?? No Ash character currently.

The Evil Dead remake will start shooting early 2012 in New Zealand.

More news about the Evil Dead Remake
- Evil Dead Remake To Be Shot in New Zealand?
- Press Release: Ghost House Pictures Remaking The Evil Dead
- It's Official - Evil Dead Remake

Ted Raimi was interviewed for Fangoria Magazine and he mentioned the Evil Dead Remake and Rob:

He also can’t say for sure right now whether he’ll be involved in the impending EVIL DEAD redux: “I don’t even know if [Diablo Cody has] finished the script yet. I can say this: I think the new EVIL DEAD is going to be fantastic. I believe Rob Tapert is producing it again, and I’m fairly certain it will be shot in New Zealand. Rob is very fond of that country [where his HERCULES: THE LEGENDARY JOURNEYS and XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS TV shows were based] and shooting there, and I’m guessing some American actors will probably go over there for it, but other than that, I don’t know anything about it.”

Click here to read the full interview

Here's the press release issued by Ghost House Pictures on the remaking of The Evil Dead.

GHOST HOUSE PICTURES WILL RESURRECT THE DEAD

Original Producing Team – Sam Raimi, Rob Tapert & Bruce Campbell –Remaking Horror Classic ‘The Evil Dead’

To be Written and Directed by Fede Alvarez

Los Angeles (July 13, 2011) – Sam Raimi and original producing partners Rob Tapert and Bruce Campbell (who also starred in the original franchise) are gearing up to remake their cult sensation THE EVIL DEAD through their long standing Ghost House Pictures partnership. Raimi and Tapert were such instant fans of Fede Alvarez’s short film “Panic Attack” that they set up a blind deal with the filmmaker and through that process have attached Fede Alvarez to write and direct the film. Alvarez wrote the script with Rodo Sayagues. Academy Award® winning screenwriter Diablo Cody is currently doing revisions on the draft. Ghost House is committed to renewing the franchise and has the film on the fast track.

Raimi, Tapert and Campbell will serve as producers. Ghost House Pictures partners Joe Drake and Nathan Kahane will executive produce. Nicole Brown and J.R. Young will oversee the project for Ghost House. Lionsgate will handle international sales on the film.

The three producing partners commented, “We are committed to making this movie and are inspired by the enduring popularity and enthusiasm for the ‘Evil Dead’ series. We can’t wait to scare a new generation of moviegoers using filmmaking techniques that were not available to us thirty years ago as well as Fede bringing a fresh eye to the film’s original elements.”

Raimi wrote, directed and, along with Tapert and Campbell, produced the original horror classic THE EVIL DEAD that tells the story of five twenty-something friends who become holed up in a remote cabin where they discover a Book Of The Dead. An archaeologist’s tape recording reveals that the ancient text was discovered among the Khandarian ruins of a Sumerian civilization. Playing the taped incantations, the youths unwittingly summon up dormant demons living in the nearby woods, which possess the youngsters in succession until only one is left intact to fight for survival. THE EVIL DEAD spawned a franchise with the equally successful installments EVIL DEAD II and ARMY OF DARKNESS.

Deadline has excellent news regarding Rob's series "Noir" which was in development back in November 2010 - click here to read

Deadline now says the series has been greenlit for a series on Starz:

EXCLUSIVE: Coming up on Starz - another action drama series from Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert, executive producers of the pay cable network's breakout hit Spartacus: Blood and Sand and its offshoot Spartacus: Gods of the Arena. I hear Starz has greenlighted to series Noir, a live-action adaptation of the 2001 Japanese anime series. The project, which had been in development at the network since last fall, follows two female assassins who team up to fight against a secret society. After discovering they're mysteriously linked, the two, under the Noir moniker, have to work together until they get answers about why and how they are connected - or until one of them kills the other. Stephen Lightfoot (Criminal Justice) wrote the adaptation and will executive produce the series with Raimi, Tapert, fellow Spartacus exec producer Joshua Donen as well as Bill Hamm. Noir had been gathering momentum over the past few weeks, with producers sending out feelers about assembling a small writers room for the potential series. The number of episodes for Noir is yet to be determined but Starz's new shows usually get straight-to-series orders of 8 to 10 episodes.

Read More

The New Zealand Herald has a great article / interview with Ngila Dickson, the Oscar winning costume designer from New Zealand. Many a Xena fan would remember Ngila - she designed the costumes for Hercules & Xena. Ngila has gone on to bigger things since Xena and the NZ Herald article has a fantastic interview with her. The interview reveals at one point she had doubts about leaving Xena and going to work on Lords of the Rings but a chat with Rob Tapert convinced her to move forward. She won an Oscar for her work in the movie "The Return of the King".

Here is the truth of the matter," she says, then pauses slightly for effect - something she's rather good at. "I had a moment," she continues, "when I was offered The Lord of the Rings when I was having so much fun on [television shows] Hercules and Xena that I seriously was thinking that I was not going to accept it.

"It is one of those sort of pivotal moments in your life. I loved what I was doing and who I was working with and, in fact, it was [Hercules and Xena creator and producer] Rob Tapert himself who made me make the decision. He was having a conversation with me about how he had fired the [Hercules] writers in LA. He said, in that wacky American accent of his, 'Ngila, those guys, they've been writing it for three years.

They're getting stale. They're just repeating themselves.' And I was sitting there going, 'Oh my God, that's me. I've been doing this for five years'."

Read the full interview

- News submitted by Jo

There is a fantastic interview with Rob in this month's OnFilm Magazine April 2011 dealing with his work in the NZ Film Industry and all the great shows he has produced.

Rob Tapert
OnFilm Magazine April 2011

Through TV Shows including Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Xena: Warrior Princess and Spartacus, American producer Rob Tapert has played a monumental role in developing the NZ screen production industry. Philip Wakefield talks to the OnFilm/Spada Champion of 2010

Rob was given a special honour the NZ Screen industry awards presented at the SPADA Conference on November 12, 2010. The award given to Rob was for Onfilm/SPADA Industry Champion! SPADA members include producers, directors, production companies and allied craft professionals working in film, television, TVC, video, post-production, animation and interactive media; lawyers and accountants, completion guarantors, and industry suppliers.

In the interview Rob talks about what an honour it was to receive the award

Spartacus Season 2 News:

- Season 2 first episode will have 30 speaking parts and
a core cast of 19 or 20 with more lavish digital effects

- More graphic environment

- More expensive to make

- Only 10 episodes

Read the full article - click on the thumbnail for the larger scan.
Scanned by Jo.

 

- For more Rob Tapert articles go to AUSXIP Rob Tapert Press
- For more on Xena Warrior Princess go to AUSXIP Xena Warrior Princess
- For more on Spartacus go to AUSXIP Spartacus News & Multimedia

The New Zealand newspaper Herald on Sunday 24 April 2011 has an article on how the movie The Hobbit by Sir Peter Jackson is taking talented crew away from Spartacus Season 2.

You can also read the article online

The site BloodyDisgusting.com is reporting that Rob's The Evil Dead will have an iPad game!

Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert's The Evil Dead is getting a new life in the form of an iPhone and iPad game that will bring the gore and campy humor of the cult classic film into the digital age!!

Ghost House Pictures has partnered with Trigger Apps, part of digital marketing firm Trigger, to launch a paid iPhone and iPad game app for the film from the production label's co-founders. It is one of the early attempts at keeping fans in touch with and making additional revenue off classic movies, which some predict will become a growing business. It also can help classics find new fans.

The Evil Dead app, which will be available for $2.99 for the iPhone and $4.99 for the iPad (once Apple approves it in the coming weeks), is an action-heavy 3D shooter game that allows players to take control of Bruce Campbell's character Ash to lead his group of friends to safety while fighting off evil zombies.

"Sam, Bruce and I have always been interested in finding ways to bring our 1980's Evil Dead into the digital age," said Tapert. "And taking this first step with Trigger has been a great experience."

Read More

Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, the highly anticipated prequel to Spartacus: Blood and Sand, telling the story of the original Champion of the House of Batiatus, will premiere on The BOX on Sunday, 1 May at 9.30pm.

Spartacus: Blood and Sand, the first season in the Spartacus series franchise, one of the highest rating series on pay television in the United States, quickly became an audience favourite with BOX viewers when it premiered in New Zealand last year.

The prequel, Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, was watched by over 2.8 million viewers when it premiered in the US earlier this year and now the powerful series, complete with an irresistible cast, is set to confront Kiwi audiences.

The series follows the character Gannicus (Dustin Clare, Underbelly), the first gladiator to become Champion of Capua. Cast members and characters being reprised from the original series include John Hannah (The Mummy, Four Weddings and A Funeral) as Batiatus, Lucy Lawless (Xena: Warrior Princess) as Lucretia, Peter Mensah (300, The Incredible Hulk) as Oenomaus, and Manu Bennett (30 Days of Night, Street Legal) as Crixus.

Joining returning stars will be additional cast members Jaime Murray (Hu$tle) as Gaia, Marisa Ramirez (General Hospital) as Melitta and Temuera Morrison (Star Wars, Once Were Warriors) as Doctore.

"It's exciting to bring another exhilarating season of our top show of 2010 to viewers next month," says The BOX Channel Manager, Tom Fox.

"Fans of Spartacus: Blood And Sand will not be disappointed as this series is as passionate and brutal as its sequel".

Filmed in New Zealand, the production team includes Sam Raimi (Spider-Man, Legend of the Seeker), Rob Tapert (Xena: Warrior Princess, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Legend of the Seeker), Joshua Donen (Drag Me to Hell) and Steven S DeKnight (Smallville, Angel, Buffy the Vampire Slayer).

Spartacus: Gods of the Arena screens Sundays, 9.30pm from 1 May on The BOX, SKY Channel 005.

Source

Following the news that Xena will be back on UK TV on the Horror Channel starting 25 April comes this report on The Horror Channel website (I think someone hasn't seen the actual show...it's not horror and it's not comedy...(although it does have some pretty good comedy eps)

Xena: Warrior Princess - Coming To Horror

The small screen's most enduring female super hero is back! Smash hit comedy fantasy adventure series, Xena: Warrior Princess will be returning to British TV screens and will begin airing on the Horror Channel on weekdays from Monday 25th April.

On our screens for the first time since 2008, the show is a spin-off from cult favourite series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, and stars Lucy Lawless as a powerful female warrior, supported by her trusty sidekick Gabrielle (played by Renee O'Connor). The ever-popular series follows the exploits of Xena as she travels her ancient world, atoning for the crimes of her warrior past.

Read More

-- Reported by Barbara Davies

Hi folks,

Well the 2011 AUSXIP Charity Auction is nearly here and there are lots and lots of goodies that I've now added to the auction site in time for the 21 March start. A complete list will be available in the next day or so so you can see what's coming up!

This year's Starship auction takes on an urgency to generate funds for
Starship because they are dealing with the normal day to day funding needs of the Starship Hospital but also they are helping the kids from Christchurch's earthquake.

For Renee's portion of the auction (the ROC Outreach Fund) the money
this year will go to The Alissa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation, a charity
near and dear to Renee's heart. Renee participates in the Burn Relays every year which raises money for the foundation.

We have alot of great stuff on hand - autographed and donated for the
auction by Lucy Lawless, Renee O'Connor, Adrienne Wilkinson, Hudson
Leick, Katherine Fugate, Michael Hurst, Jennifer Ward-Lealand, Katrina Law, Lesley-Ann Brandt, Erin Cummings (Spartacus, Bitch Slap, Detroit 187), Rick Jacobson and a few more surprises.

If you haven't registered for the auction please go to

http://charity.ausxip.com/register.php#ed46d442233d

If you have registered for last year's auction, your login name and password will work once again.

The auction starts on 21 March till 28 March 2011!

Thanks for your support - please spread the word to your mailing lists, forums and other social networks!

Spartacus: Gods of the Arena Recap
by MaryD

Oh my goodness me! Was that the best hour of television I have seen in a long time or what! I'm going to go into super fan girl mode here (as opposed to normal fan girl mode) and say:

WHAT ABSOLUTELY FRAKKING BRILLIANT PIECE OF TELEVISION! The revenge, the betrayal, the glory, the gory bits EVERYTHING is just frakking brilliant.

In my opinion the finds of the series were Dustin Clare and Jessica Grace Smith. We will see Dustin again in Season 2 as Gannicus but alas Jessica's Diona is now longer of this world. Watch for Jessica Grace Smith; she's got a bright future ahead of her.

Alrightly let's go down and do the character assessments again as others will review the episode...

Read More

TVbythenumbers has just posted the ratings for the first episode of Spartacus: Gods of the Arena Episode 1: Past Trangressions. It reached nearly 1.1 million (1.097 million).

Starz’ Spartacus: Gods of the Arena premiered to 1.097 million on Friday at 10pm on Starz. The 11p encore drew another 753,000 viewers.

The premiere was up 66% from the premiere of Spartacus: Blood and Sand on January 22, 2010 (659,000) and up 70% based on combined viewing of the 10pm and 11pm encore (1.850 million vs. 1.091 million). read more

Film Review Online has an interview with Rob and two stars from the show Spartacus: Gods of the Arena

Spartacus: Gods of the Arena – Producer Rob Tapert and stars Dustin Clare and Peter Mensah on the tragic past - 23 January 2011

The extraordinary success of Starz graphically violent, explicitly sexual, series Spartacus: Blood and Sand guaranteed it a second season – but when its star, Andy Whitfield, became seriously ill, the show was put on hold. Then the producers came up with a brilliant stop-gap, to do a prequel.

In Spartacus: Gods of the Arena the story revolves around the House of Batiatus before Spartacus’ arrival. It’s a time of transition as Quintus Lentulus Batiatus (John Hannah) takes the reins of his father’s stable of gladiators.He stakes his fortunes on the roguish gladiator Gannicus (Dustin Clare), a man whose skills with a sword is surpassed only by is appetite to live every day as if it were his last. Also returning in the prequel is the popular character, Oenomaus (Peter Mensah).

The series’ producer Rob Tapert and actors Dustin Clare and Peter Mensah spoke about the prequel at the TV Critics tour last week.

Snippets from the interview

In the beginning you were shooting a lot of blue screen, are you still using that technology?

Rob Tapert: In terms of production, we only do more virtual sets as we go forward. So what we had in the first season of Spartacus and in the prequel were a fixed amount of locations and a lot of the skies and some arenas.

In the prequel we actually built an arena, which was kind of cool. But going forward into Season 2, it is much more using all the technology that’s available out there. So we will be a much more expensive show, and a show that has a much larger visual range to it because we’re using more blue screen, utilizing the technology to tell our great stories against.

Your main protagonist in the first season was obviously Spartacus, do you have a central protagonist this season?

Rob Tapert: We do, it’s very similar to Season 1 except that the engine is going faster. Gannicus is the gladiator at the middle, and the stories are spinning around him, the same way the stories spun around Spartacus.

Read the full interview

Spartacus: Gods of the Arena Episode 1: Past Transgressions
Review by MaryD

A younger Batiatus finds himself newly in control of his father’s gladiator school. He uses his most skilled fighter to win favor with a cunning nobleman behind the building of the new arena.

Well that was a welcome return of an old friend and I'm not referring to Gaia. Seeing our favourite gladiators and their owners was so wonderful. I'm sure others will review the episode and what it all means but I think I should go into how each old characters and new character affected me as I watched. Firstly I have to say I LOVED this episode. It's a more gritty look at Capua and it's inhabitants. The blood on the sand is still there in abundance and the writing is SUPERB. Beautiful job Steven DeKnight.

Let's start with our beloved characters who are young again.

Read Review

A quarter of a century ago, few people could've predicted Rob Tapert would emerge as a Hollywood heavyweight responsible for some of today's most popular and sensational fantasy and horror genre vehicles, including tonight's premiere of Starz's "Spartacus: Gods of the Arena."

His coursework at Michigan State University was filled mostly with economics and history credits. But a group of friends including Sam Raimi (who'd go on to direct the "Spider-Man" franchise) and Bruce Campbell (who'd become a name actor in movies and TV) put their twisted young minds together and exploded onto the silver-screen scene with the 1981 cult classic "The Evil Dead."

Over the past 30 years Tapert, 55, has produced a plethora of popcorn entertainment like "Darkman" and "The Gift." In 2004, Tapert and Raimi's big-screen horror label Ghost House Pictures debuted with the monster hit "The Grudge." They have since produced more than a dozen films, including 2009's throwback "Drag Me to Hell."

On the small screen, their partnership has been just as fertile with "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys" and "Xena: Warrior Princess," which starred Lucy Lawless, whom Tapert married in 1998.

Tonight, the latest installment of their bloody-good brand "Spartacus" will be unleashed with a six-episode prequel. A second season of "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" is set to begin production this spring.

Read more: 'Spartacus' series a thrilling ride for MSU pals | freep.com | Detroit Free Press

Following up the post back in December on when Spartacus: Gods of the Arena will be shown in the UK. The following tweet shed a bit more light on when that will be occuring:

Http://twitter.com/#!/sky1insider

sky1insider Sky 1 Insider
Spartacus: Gods of the Arena will air on Sky 1 HD and Sky 1 in early
February - exact date coming soon! @NYGUK
3 hours ago
--

On December 8, 2010 the following was posted:

Spartacus: GotA will be screen in the UK on Sky1 early in 2011 (the TVChoice tweet doesn't say what day)

You can catch Spartacus: Gods Of The Arena on Sky1 early in the new year - sounds really exciting!
about 3 hours ago via Tweetie for Mac

Just met John Hannah for a very funny and frank chat about Spartacus: Gods Of The Arena. He's a real star, but does have a potty mouth! -:)
about 3 hours ago via Tweetie for Mac

The Current GotA Premiere Schedule:

USA - 21 January 2011
Canada - 23 January 2011
UK - February 2011
Australia - ??/2011 (GO! has announced it's picked up the show for 2011 - exact date not known yet)

AUSXIP Reporter: Barbara Davies

ET THE GAMES BEGIN. THE STARZ ORIGINAL SERIES SPARTACUS: GODS OF THE ARENA DEBUTS ON THE MOVIE NETWORK AND MOVIE CENTRAL THIS MONTH

•The highly anticipated six-part prequel to Spartacus: Blood and Sand premieres Sunday, January 23 at 10 p.m. ET/MT
•Free online sampling opportunity begins Saturday, January 22 at www.themovienetwork.ca and www.moviecentral.ca

TORONTO, Jan. 12 /CNW Telbec/ - Astral's The Movie Network (Eastern Canada) and Corus Entertainment's Movie Central (Western Canada) are once again entering the brutal, visceral world of Ancient Roman gladiators with Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, a six-part prequel to the Starz action-adventure original drama series, Spartacus: Blood and Sand. The uniquely graphic series will premiere Sunday, January 23 at 10 p.m. ET on The Movie Network and 10 p.m. MT on Movie Central.

Spartacus: Gods of the Arena centres around Gannicus (new cast member Dustin Clare), the charismatic gladiator aspiring to become Champion of Capua and of the House of Batiatus. With political ambitions and poised to overthrow his father and take control of the House, a young Batiatus (John Hannah) will freely betray anyone to ensure his gladiators are in the highest demand. With his loyal and calculating wife Lucretia (Lucy Lawless) by his side, they will stop at nothing to deceive the masses.

Read More

Live Tweeting from Spartacus_Starz at TCA - these appeared on Twitter about the prequel and Season 2. No major spoilers.

Steven S. DeKnight Exec Prod. says that we have great new ways to kill the gladiators this coming season. We just keep raising the bar. #TCA

RT @JasonDKing: "Who doesn't like backstabbing an intrique," says Steven DeKnight discussing appeal of "Spartacus" at #TCA #CTAM

The most surprising fan of #Spartacus? A minister. Don't know why. Steven S DeKnight isn't pandering to mass market but response is great.

S2 of #Spartacus will be a more expensive show for utilizing "all of the technology out there" (blue screen etc). Visual range expanded #TCA

EP Tapert: Spartacus prequel season "similar to season 1 but the engine is going faster."

Rob Tapert promises only MORE digital sets as they move forward. #spartacus #tca

Lucy Lawless will be back Season 2 - Lucretia is very much alive and will be even more evil. Makes her "pale just thinking about it." #TCA

Someone says he heard show will have gay gladiator. Lucy Lawless says so did last season. Asks if he wasn't paying attn. Ha! #spartacus #TCA

DeKnight says that what Lucretia does in Season 2 will make Season 1 pale by comparison. In other news..LAWLESS WILL RETURN! #Spartacus #TCA

#Spartacus Lucy Lawless says season 2 will show Peter Mensah's range as an actor. John Hannah adds 'and naked.' #TCA #STARZ

Lucy Lawless on how she will survive her "wounds" to return to season 2 of Spartacus: "It was just a little poke in the tummy." #tca #starz

"We basically cut out all the boring parts; we hit the ground running" - Steven S DeKnight on the exciting evolution of #Spartacus #TCA

What is coming down the pike for Lucretia in S2 makes her pale just thinking about it since she already went through so much in S1. #TCA

"There was a gay gladiator last season. You're not paying attention" - Lucy Lawless to a critic who probably doesn't watch the show #TCA

More gay gladiators this season on #Spartacus, confirms EP Steven S DeKnight. #Starz #TCA #CTAM

"It was just a little poke in the tummy," says Lucy Lawless. Her accent makes everything great. #tca

Someone asking if Lucy Lawless or John Hannah will be back in Spartacus Season 2. Someone not remembering last Spratacus panel...

#LucyLawless says S2 will show #PeterMensah's range as an actor. #JohnHannah adds 'and naked.' #Spartacus #TCA #CTAM

"Nothing good came from losing Andy in terms of the guy for that role." - Rob Tapert on #Spartacus S2 #TCA #CTAM

#SPARTACUS Lucy Lawless: doing prequel was great- got to learn about how her character evolved. Batiatus and Lucretia early in love. #TCA

"I don't think there's much hope for John. That's a head in a jar." "It's just a flesh wound!" Lucy jokes #Spartacus #TCA #CTAM

John Hannah says we're going to see Peter Mensah naked and growls seductively. Wants to know why everyone laughs. #spartacus #T

We'll get to see the honeymoon phase for Batiatus and Lucretia in S2 of #Spartacus #Starz #TCA #CTAM

Lucy shares that it was a thrill to be able to go back and fill in bits about her character, like the honeymoon stage of her life #TCA #CTAM

S2 is the same as what was planned for #Spartacus before Andy Whitfield had to bow out permanently. #TCA #CTAM

@LauinLA Dustin Clare is on the panel - super handsome. #Spartacus #Starz #TCA

#Spartacus #GodsoftheArena is up next with Lucy Lawless, John Hannah, et al. #TCA #CTAM

RT @TVTango: No casting news on #SPARTACUS for replacing Andy Whitfield #TCA

RT @afterelton: Starz announces that they are moving ahead with a new season of Spartacus after Gods of the Arena. #spartacus #TCA

News Release Issued: January 4, 2011 12:01 AM EST

Starz Digital Media Preps for Return of 'Spartacus' with New Facebook Social Game, Multimedia iPad Script App

Prepare to Fight for Glory in the Starz 'Spartacus: Gods of the Arena' Facebook Social Media Game, Limited Beta Open to Public January 6
Multimedia iPad Script App Offers Individual 'Spartacus: Blood and Sand' and 'Spartacus: Gods of the Arena' Episodes with Video and Exclusive Commentaries, Launches in Starz iTunes Store January 17

ENGLEWOOD, Colo., Jan. 4, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Starz Digital Media, the digital and on-demand licensing arm of Starz, announced today the upcoming launches of its first social media game, Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, and iPad multimedia script app for the "Spartacus" Starz original series.

Read Full Press Release

The Hollywood Reporter has an exclusive story about Rob Tapert's new project for Starz!

Starz has picked up an action project from Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert that's based on a Japanese anime TV series.

The premium cable network is developing Noir, a live-action U.S. remake of a 2001 show about two female assassins working in a criminal underworld. After discovering they're mysteriously linked, the two and have to work together on missions (under the moniker of "Noir") until they figure out why and how they are connected -- or until one of them kills the other.

Stephen Lightfoot (Criminal Justice and House of Saddam) is the writer and executive producer.

Read More

Screen industry awards presented at the SPADA Conference on November 12. The award given to Rob was for Onfilm/SPADA Industry Champion! Congratulations Rob!

SPADA members include producers, directors, production companies and allied craft professionals working in film, television, TVC, video, post-production, animation and interactive media; lawyers and accountants, completion guarantors, and industry suppliers.

Rob Tapert

With his latest series, Spartacus, currently in production in Auckland, and all of his productions since 1993, Rob Tapert has brought in $NZ745 million of offshore funding to date. He has produced 375 hours of television in New Zealand, 309 hours of that before the Large Budget Screen Production Grant was introduced. His television series are: 5 x Hercules telefeatures, Hercules, The Legendary Journeys, Young Hercules, Xena: Warrior Princess, Jack of All Trades, Cleopatra 2525, Amazon High, Legend of the Seeker and Spartacus. Plus feature films Boogeyman and 30 Days of Night.

He was the first major offshore producer to see the potential of New Zealand not only for stunning locations, but also for talented crews, actors, directors, producers, editors, stunt performers etc. In 17 years of operating in New Zealand, he has enabled the growth of local infrastructure and the development of skills by providing the projects, the challenges, the training and the promotions, while continually raising the bar. He has been responsible for the careers of thousands of kiwis, all the while developing new ways of making television. He is respected and loved amongst kiwi crews for his innovation, generosity and humour, as well as his enormous contribution to the growth of the industry in this country.

Tapert's early days were with his producing partner Sam Raimi on cult hits Darkman and Evil Dead, a partnership which has also included the feature films The Quick and the Dead, The Gift and The Grudge.

Source

News submitted by Pat

Starz has booked "Spartacus: Gods of the Arena" for Friday, January 21 at 10:00/9:00c according to the just released news from TheFutoncritic

--

Before Spartacus struck down his first opponent in the arena, there were many gladiators who passed though the gates onto the sand. "Spartacus: Gods of the Arena," the highly anticipated prequel to Starz' hit series "Spartacus: Blood and Sand," tells the story of the original Champion of the House of Batiatus: Gannicus (Dustin Clare) in a more ruthless time before Spartacus' arrival where honor was just finding it's way into the arena. The new series adds to the cast Jaime Murray as Capua's sexy social climber Gaia and Marisa Ramirez as Melitta, a beautiful slave who must face the ultimate decision of the heart. Jeffrey Thomas plays Batiatus's father Titus, the traditional and cautious Lanista, head of the Ludus. They join returning cast members John Hannah (Quintus Batiatus), Lucy Lawless (Lucretia), Peter Mensah (Oenomaus, before he becomes Doctore, the gladiator trainer) and Manu Bennett (Crixus).

As the prequel begins, Quintus Batiatus is the acting Lanista while his father Titus is on an extended visit to Sicilia. But Batiatus isn't satisfied with just the thought of taking over the Ludus one day; he aspires to political power and prestige in Capua, and perhaps beyond. In the class-conscious world of ancient Rome, the House of Batiatus must first earn the respect of both politicians and socialites before being granted the right for its gladiators to fight in the much-revered championship bouts called the Primus. Batiatus must not only survive the harsh politics of Capua, but also compel his hedonistic fighter, Gannicus, to embrace being a champion gladiator who will bring esteem and respect to the House of Batiatus.

"Spartacus: Gods of the Arena" is produced by Rob Tapert, Sam Raimi, Joshua Donen and Steven S. DeKnight. Season one of "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" was the highest rated show for the 18-49 demographic among all cable networks for 12 of the 13 Fridays on which it aired based on coverage rating.

More About Spartacus: Gods of the Arena on AUSXIP Spartacus

THR is reporting that award-winning Danish filmmaker Ole Bornedal has been given the key to direct Dibbuk Box, a horror thriller from Lionsgate that Sam Raimi and his Ghost House partner Rob Tapert are producing.

Lionsgate is putting the pedal to the metal on Box, hoping to begin production in January 2011.

The film is in the vein of The Exorcist or The Shining, based on real events that transpired after a family wound up in possession of a haunted box, setting off a harrowing struggle to rid themselves of the box's evil curse.

Juliet Snowden and Stiles White wrote the script. The origins of the project lie in a Los Angeles Times article written by Leslie Gornstein, titled A Jinx in a Box.

The real-life box gained notoriety in 2004 when it sold on eBay after causing inexplicable bad fortune to its owners, which was attributed to a dibbuk -- a malevolent spirit of Jewish folklore trapped in the haunted box.

Lionsgate has North American distribution rights for Box and will be handling international sales at the upcoming American Film Market in Santa Monica.

The project puts Bornedal back in business with Ghost House as the director is working with the company on a remake of his 2007 Danish-language thriller The Substitute (Vikaren). The remake, which has Scott Derrickson attached to direct, is in development at Ghost House's label Spooky Pictures, which is dedicated to making scary movies for the family audience.

Stan Wertlieb, Peter Schlessel and Ghost House's Nathan Kahane will executive produce Box. Stephen Susco and Ghost House's J.R. Young, Nicole Brown and Kelli Konop will co-produce.

John Sacchi is overseeing the production on behalf of Lionsgate.

Bornedal most recently wrote and directed Just Another Love Story and Deliver Us From Evil, which screened at the Toronto Film Festival. He is repped by WME and Principal Entertainment.

Source

News submitted by SallyJayBee

Deadline.com is reporting that Rob's Ghost House Pictures has won the auction for The Day Of The Triffids

Mandate Pictures has won the auction for The Day of the Triffids. The film will be produced by Ghost House, the partnership between Mandate, Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert. The deal is seven-figures and I've heard it's the most that Mandate has paid for a project package. Raimi wants to direct it; the original was one of his favorite films as a boy. Raimi and Tapert will board the producer roster, joining Michael Preger, Angry Films' Don Murphy and Susan Montford, and Mark Gordon, who previously worked with Raimi on A Simple Plan.

Ghost House taps writer for 'Au Pair' - Dana Stevens to write thriller based on R.L. Stine novel

Sean Furst and Bryan Furst ("Daybreakers," "The Cooler") are producing with Ghost House principals Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert.

"Au Pair" revolves around a young woman who runs from a troubled relationship by spending a fun-filled, romantic summer as a nanny in a posh Hamptons beach house. This dream job takes a frightening turn when she uncovers a dark secret that haunts her and the kids she's sworn to protect.

Stevens will produce with Ghost House principal Nathan Kahane, Yvonne Bernard and Beth Elise Hawk. Jane Stine and Joan Waricha will co-produce. Anne Blanchard of Mosaic Media brought the book to Sean and Bryan Furst.

Project reteams Stevens with Raimi, who collaborated on "For the Love of the Game," with Raimi directing from a script by Stevens. Her other bigscreen credits include "Life or Something Like It" and "Blink." She also created the TV series "What About Brian."

Source

This is an interesting article about how much the show costs to produce.

Wellington, Sept 20 NZPA - The withdrawal of British actor Andy Whitfield from playing title role in the proposed second season of US cable television show Spartacus has raised questions over future plans for the TV series, which has contributed millions of dollars to Auckland's movie-making industry.

"The future of Starz's Spartacus series is now in doubt," reported an industry website which specialises in news on ending television series, tvseriesfinale.com.

Whitfield was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in March and, after treatment, was declared cancer-free in May. He was training hard to get back into filming, but has now been advised by his doctors to resume aggressive treatments immediately.

In a statement, Whitfield said: "It's with a deep sense of disappointment that I must step aside from such an exceptional project as Spartacus and all the wonderful people involved."

Spartacus was renewed for a second season even before the first started airing, but when filming of the second season was postponed so Whitfield could undergo treatment, Starz ordered a prequel called Spartacus: Gods of the Arena which focuses on co-stars Lucy Lawless and John Hannah.

Whitfield was supposed to return to shoot Spartacus next month, but Starz Media managing director Carmi Zlotnik, said: "We will address our programming plans at some later date."

The prequel is still filming in west Auckland and will screen in the United States in January. The second series which has been contracted was expected to air next September.

Reuters reported the first series, Spartacus: Blood and Sand, cost more than $US2.74 million ($NZ3.76m) for each of the 13 hour-long episodes filmed over 149 days from March 31 last year.

Though Spartacus benefited from New Zealand rebates of 20 percent of what was spent here, executive producer Rob Tapert -- who along with Sam Raimi produced the cult hit Xena: Warrior Princess -- admitted at one stage he had to ask Starz for more money.

That first series was the highest-rated show on cable in the coveted adult audience aged 18-49 years on 12 of its 13 Friday screenings.

The series features Whitfield as the title character, a Thracian fighting to return to his wife after being sold into slavery at a gladiatorial school, run by the deceptive Lucretia (Lawless) and her power-hungry husband Batiatus (Hannah).

The show also features New Zealand actors Antonio Te Maioha, Manu Bennett and Craig Parker.

Source

‘Spartacus’ Creator Says Viewers See More on Disc - Home Media Magazine

If there’s one advantage to TV series on DVD and Blu-ray Disc, “Spartacus: Blood and Sand” creator and executive producer Steven S. DeKnight said it’s that all the gore and nudity cut to make episodes work for TV get put right back in.

“The sexual content especially was a little too much for Starz,” he said. “Look for more orgy scenes and a gladiator with a large endowment.”

Fans of the series will find that and a lot more when Anchor Bay Entertainment releases the first season of the series on DVD ($59.97) and Blu-ray Disc ($79.97) Sept. 21.

“We have a ton of bonus features — lots of on-the-set stuff, a commentary with almost every episode,” Knight said. “I’m most excited to see it in 1080p.”

The DVD and Blu-ray sets will both have featurettes about the history behind “Spartacus,” make-up effects, actors training to be gladiators, along with the commentaries, episodes with enhanced digital effects, bloopers and trailers. The Blu-ray gets an exclusive four “Director’s Cut Extended Episodes,” selected by executive producer Rob Tapert.

“For those scenes cut, sometimes it’s just because of pacing or we had too much footage,” DeKnight said. “A lot of the way the show looks is because of Rob.”

Besides the added gore and violence, DVD and Blu-ray also give people who’ve missed episodes a chance to watch them all concurrently.

“Each episode got better as the season went along, and we picked up more viewers along the way,” DeKnight said.

While Knight praised all the actors in the series, he saved special praise for the man who plays Spartacus himself, Andy Whitfield. The actor was treated for Stage 1 non-Hodgkin lymphoma earlier this year.

“We looked high and low to find Spartacus,” DeKnight said. “We were lucky to find him.”

Source

The Herald on Sunday newspaper today (05 September 2010) has a photo of Lucy and Rob attending the ITM Fishing Awards on 28 August 2010. They wrongly describe Lucy has not knowing anything about fishing (Lucy is a keen fisherman). Rob and Lucy both attended the awards and Lucy presented an award. The Fishing Media Awards will be televised in New Zealand on TV3 on 30 October at 5:00 pm. Click on the thumbnail for the larger scan

You can purchase pictures taken of Lucy and Rob from this event (not the photo above). The photos were taken by PORTRAIT PHOTOS - Jess Burges - Exposure Photographics. To purchase, email: jess@exposurenz.co.nz $15 each for 5x7 + $2.00 p/p

* Lucy Photos from The ITM Fishing Media Awards 2010 - Award Presentation
* Lucy & Rob at The ITM Fishing Media Awards 2010 on 28 August 2010

Spartacus Season 1 Episode 4 The Thing in the Pit.
Edited Australian Version
Reviewed by MaryD

Having performed shamefully in the arena against Crixus, Spartacus is forced to fight in the Pits. Batiatus, determined to profit from Spartacus, may be at risk if his debts aren’t repaid.

Here are my thoughts of the episode. I didn't review the unedited version way back in Feb so I don't have notes to compare this version with that but I'm going from memory (please correct me if I'm wrong)

Read Review

In A Time of Ancient Gods, Warlords and Kings....
Written by MaryD

In the time of ancient Gods, Warlords and Kings, a land in turmoil cried out for a hero...and we found her..actually we found two of them!

The story goes back to March 1995 and not September 1995. It goes back to a time of gods and kings and to the legendary Hercules. Xena was born on Hercules on 13 March 1995. We all know what happened; we know the history but because I'm writing a 15 year tribute...we go down memory lane.

Read More

The Evil Dead was directed by Sam Raimi and was produced by Rob Tapert. The film itself started from a 8mm short film entitled “Within the Woods” which got Raimi, star Bruce Campbell and Producer Robert enough financial supporters and such to make a full-length motion picture, originally to be titled “Book of the Dead“.

High Def Disc News has a very comprehensive review of the DVD and Blu-Ray with the extras listed.

Watch Trailer | Read Review

Academy Award-Nominated Actor Thomas Haden Church Featuredin Made-for-Digital Series from FEARnet and Ghost House Pictures

Los Angeles, CA, August 23, 2010 – FEARnet, the world’s premier destination for horror, thriller and suspense movies, announced today Zombie Roadkill will premiere on October 4, 2010 on FEARnet.com. FEARnet will debut the first two episodes of this new original series brought to you by Ghost House Pictures on October 4th, and then release one new episode of the six-episode series daily. The terrifyingly twisted new series will also play on the FEARnet On Demand VOD network with the first three episodes of the series becoming available on October 14th and the final episodes becoming available October 21st. Ghost House's partners Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert, together with Jim Burns shepherded the project along with Ben Ketai and Sarah Donohue as Executive Producers. Innovative director David Green helmed the project penned by Henry Gayden.

The horror-comedy features Academy Award-nominated actor Thomas Haden Church (Spider-Man 3, Sideways, Wings) as a tough as nails Park Ranger who teams with an unsuspecting teenager, played by David Dorfman (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Ring films), to escape a cursed stretch of highway that resurrects roadkill in the form flesh eating zombie animals.

Zombie Roadkill follows a group of college kids driving on an unfamiliar winding road through a national park. The group is heading for a fun weekend away, but when they accidentally run over an unsuspecting squirrel, everything takes a dark turn and they quickly discover that this is no ordinary road. In fact, the woods are alive with the undead: wronged woodland creatures that have been reanimated as vengeful, murderous zombies!

The series’ claw-scratching action unfolds over six episodes, each 4-5 minutes in length. Aaron Lam of Ghost House Pictures produced the series. Frank Langley and Tom Bacho of Quantum FX (Where the Wild Things Are, Star Trek, Watchmen) brought the terrifying creatures to life.

Zombie Roadkill also stars Toni Wynne, Jeff D’Agostino, Cherilyn Wilson, and Michael Blaiklock.

About Ghost House Pictures
Ghost House Pictures was formed as a joint venture between filmmakers Sam Raimi, Rob Tapert, Nathan Kahane and Joe Drake creating a production label dedicated to the financing, development and release of films in the horror thriller genre. The company has achieved success with five consecutive #1 releases, starting with the 2004 remake of THE GRUDGE, starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, which has grossed $188 million worldwide; THE GRUDGE 2, which opened at number one in October 2006; Stephen T. Kay's BOOGEYMAN, starring Barry Watson, THE MESSENGERS, from acclaimed filmmakers Oxide and Danny Pang (THE EYE), which was released in February 2007; and David Slade's 30 DAYS OF NIGHT, an adaptation of the popular comic about vampires descending on an Alaskan town. Most recently, Universal Pictures released DRAG ME TO HELL in May 2009. The film, which was written and directed by Sam Raimi, stars Alison Lohman and Justin Long.

Brent Hartinger from AfterElton.com recently interviewed me as part of an article about Fans and fandom. The article is called Are Obsessive Fans Ruining the Internet?

It's a fascinating look at how fans can cross the line between being a fan and being a fanatic. This issue has been getting progressively worse and some sites won't cover certain shows because of the caustic response from fans of that show.

I truly believe that fandom in general can do amazing things but there are those who cross that line. Have a read of Brent's article which is very well written (and not because he interviewed me as part of the article!)

Click here to read article

NZ Listener August 21-27 2010 Vol 225 No 3667
Swords, sex and sandals with Spartacus
by Sarah Barnett

There’s plenty of red in Rob Tapert’s Kiwi-made Spartacus, but the American husband of Lucy Lawless (who plays Lucretia) says it’s only a little gratuitous.

From the set of Spartacus: Blood and Sand (Sky D05, Sunday, 9.30pm), executive producer Rob Tapert is confident Kiwis can handle the uncut version of this swords, sandals, sex and swearing melodrama: “I’ve seen what’s on local television.” Tapert is as good as local these days. After discovering New Zealand as a filming location for shows such as Xena: Warrior Princess, he has continued to roll camera here – and he married Lucy Lawless. The set this time? An Auckland warehouse. One hundred and fifty extras today, 250 tomorrow, with digital effects to come to transform it into ancient Capua, Rome.

Our hero, Spartacus (Andy Whitfield), is a Thracian warrior sold into slavery after crossing the wrong Roman (Craig Parker), and winding up in the glad­iatorial arena. Parker and Lawless have major roles beside UK import John Hannah, and Michael Hurst pops up in the director’s chair – these ancient Romans often speak with a Kiwi inflection. There were, it’s fair to say, middling reviews in the US, although they began to turn around as the series went on. Some reviewers, Tapert says, “recanted by episode 13. We felt good about that.”

It’s a long way from Tapert’s early days with fellow executive producer Sam Raimi, making the Evil Dead films on a shoestring, even mixing their own blood. Or perhaps not so long – there’s still plenty of blood, but rather than being mixed set-side, this is filmed exploding in glorious arcs in front of green screens to give it that vivid, comic-book effect seen in flicks like 300.

Spartacus is, in other words, decadent, debauched and ghoulishly stylish. “There’s only probably two times in the first 13 episodes that, looking back on it, I feel we did something gratuitous,” Tapert says. “The rest of it, everything had a reason, and decisions about blood or gladiators fighting – that’s more about a ballet in a kind of chop-socky Japanese kind of fashion.”

Article submitted by Barbara Davies

At long last Spartacus Blood and Sand will hit Aussie shores in August!

Channel 9 has announced that they will be showing Spartacus on their digital channel GO! in August!

Some time ago there were rumours that channel 7 had bought the show and were going to show it on their 7Two digital channel. They didn't and channel 9 did! Wahoo!

Here's the press release!

OnFilm Magazine has an article about Spartacus being shown on New Zealand TV. There are a couple of Rob quotes:

"Earlier this year, Tapert told Onfilm he was surprised none of the NZ free-to-air networks had picked up the series, and not just because it was shot in their backyard.

While the show’s graphic sexual content and violence are “challenging” by US TV standards, “I didn’t think anything we did wouldn’t make it on air after 9.30 in New Zealand …

“I saw Sex and the City and The Sopranos down here relatively uncut in a 9.30 slot. I thought it would be a no-brainer for one of the free-to-air broadcasters down here to have bought it. It caught me a little bit off guard. In Canada it’s been a huge success.

“I think people are waiting to see the pared-down edited version, and once they see that hopefully they’ll vote with their wallets.”

Read More

I interviewed Craig Parker for AUSXIP Interviews (just posted the interview here). Craig has been involved in four Rob Tapert productions and I asked what it was like working for Rob.

This is the 4th project you've worked on with Rob Tapert? What do you like about working on his projects?

Rob has enormous passion, knowledge and appreciation for all aspects of putting together a show and one feels this filter through all his projects. Together with a remarkable production team he assembles a fantastically skilled and talented crew who, even with the tiredness, difficulties and madness that come with a long shoot, continue to do beautiful work and treat each other with kindness and respect. He expects everyone to work at the top of their game, does all he can to encourage that and readily acknowledges it when they do.

Read Full Interview

The New Zealand screen industry appears to have lost one of its production mainstays of the past two years, with unconfirmed reports from the US that The Legend of the Seeker has been axed.

The Rob Tapert-Sam Raimi production, which screens Thursday nights on Prime, seems to have been the casualty of declining ratings in the States, prompting one chain of US stations not to continue with the syndicated series.

Seeker’s second season wrapped at the end of last month in Auckland and there was no indication at the wrap party that the crew would be back for a third season. However, it’s been pointed out to Onfilm that this wasn’t necessarily significant, given commissioning of the second season went down to the wire.

If it is the case Seeker hasn’t been picked-up for another season, it’ll be a blow to the local industry. Season two of the television series engaged 360 full-time and casual crew, and about 180 support actors/actresses were cast over the 22 episodes.

Read More

News Release Issued: May 11, 2010 4:36 PM EDT

Production on Starz' 'Spartacus' Six-Part Prequel to Begin This Summer

Andy Whitfield to Appear In Two Episodes Along With Lucy Lawless, John Hannah, Peter Mensah Plus Other Returning and New Characters

LOS ANGELES, May 11 /PRNewswire/ -- NCTA Cable Show 2010 -- Pre-production is underway on a six-part prequel to Starz' hit original series "Spartacus: Blood and Sand."

Andy Whitfield, who played the title character in the series, will appear in the prequel briefly, but Lucy Lawless and John Hannah take center stage in this story of the rise of the House of Batiatus and its champions before Spartacus arrives as a captured Thracian slave. With the title still to be determined, the prequel will begin production this summer in New Zealand, and is slated to air on Starz in January 2011.

John Hannah returns as Batiatus, owner of the Ludus, along with his wife Lucretia, played by Lucy Lawless. Other returning actors include Peter Mensah (Doctore), Manu Bennett (Crixus), Antonio Te Maioha (Barca), Nick E. Tarabay (Ashur), Lesley-Ann Brandt (Naevia) - and others. New characters will also be added - most notably the gladiator who was champion of the House of Batiatus before Spartacus or even Crixus - who will help fill in the story about the people and politics in the House of Batiatus and ancient Capua as a whole.

Production on the second season of "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" was postponed this spring to allow Andy Whitfield to be treated for Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma in New Zealand. His doctors indicate that the actor is responding well.

"The prequel story maintains the excitement and entertainment value of the first season of 'Spartacus,' giving audiences the engaging experience they've come to expect," said Starz President and CEO Chris Albrecht. "We look forward to continuing the Spartacus story."

Produced by Rob Tapert, Sam Raimi, Joshua Donen and Steven S. DeKnight, "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" was the highest rated show for the 18-49 demographic among all cable networks for 12 of the 13 Fridays on which it aired based on coverage rating.* The production team remains intact for the six-part prequel.

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 17.1 million and 31.1 million subscribers respectively. Starz Entertainment airs more than 1,000 movies per 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 (NASDAQ: LSTZA), a tracking stock group of Liberty Media Corporation.

*Source: Nielsen Live + SD Coverage Ratings for A18-49 each Friday between 1/29/10 - 4/16/10 among all basic and premium cable channels.

SOURCE Starz

The Times Online has a very lengthy article about Spartacus and a review about the show.

The historical mini-series just got sexier

The article reads in part...

So, when Starz decided to dip its toe into the original-programming pool of gore, it turned to the producing team of Steven S DeKnight (Smallville, Buffy), Sam Raimi (Evil Dead, Spider-Man) and Robert Tapert (Raimi’s long-term producing partner and Lawless’s long-term husband). With those credentials, what could possibly go wrong? The answer: not much. Spartacus’s second series was commissioned before its first episode had aired — unheard of in American television — and broke Starz’s ratings record for Friday nights.

“The idea came up when Rob and Sam were meeting with NBC to work out how to adapt their huge film and TV library,” DeKnight explains. “They suggested reworking Kubrick’s Spartacus with 300-style technology, but it became clear the show they had in mind was too strong for terrestrial television. When Starz ended up buying the idea, they called me, and I was kind of mixed up. I loved gladiator movies when I was a kid, but I revere Stanley Kubrick, so I couldn’t see how you’d get close to the original. It’s too big a classic to take on.was saved from doubt by the immensely adaptable qualities of the rebel slave’s symbolism. Kubrick’s film was by Dalton Trumbo, a blacklisted scriptwriter hired by Kirk Douglas in the face of Senator McCarthy’s wrath. Trumbo penned the fabled “I am Spartacus” scene as a comment on the Senate forcing suspects to name names. In DeKnight’s version, however, Spartacus is a Thracian soldier who rebels against his Roman boss to save his wife. He is thrown into the arena, where he butchers a succession of professionals before being snapped up by the gladiator owner Quintus Batiatus — played by Hannah with the same resigned frustration he brings to most of his roles.

Clearly, there’s more than a whiff of Russell Crowe about that pitch. Unlike Gladiator’s nihilistic romance, however, where we merely chart the fatalistic slide of an all but suicidal widower, here Spartacus’s wife survives, and their slave status means the buying and selling of people in ancient Rome stands out as a subtheme — in as much as anything can stand out from the heaving breasts and savage deaths. This is DeKnight’s solution to his Kubrick problem.

Read Full Article

Rob's Ghost House Pictures will be producing a sequel to the horror hit "The Strangers" called "The Man" - The following is a press release from Ghost House Pictures

Los Angeles (May 5, 2010) – Ghost House Pictures announced today that Bryan Bertino (THE STRANGERS) will direct THIS MAN, an original screenplay that he will also pen. Bertino and Adrienne Biddle are partnering with Ghost House principals Sam Raimiand Rob Tapert to produce the film. Ghost House principal Nathan Kahane will executive produce. J.R. Young and Mary Lee will oversee the project for the company.

“We look forward to partnering with Bryan and Adrienne to develop this unique, hair-raising horror story that will be sure to delight horror fans,” shares Sam Raimi.

Based on real life accounts, THIS MAN follows an ordinary guy who discovers that people he has never met are seeing him in their dreams. Now he must find out why he is the source of nightmares for strangers all over the world.

Ghost House had acquired the rights to a website created by Italian sociologist Andrea Natella. The website was created to help connect those who had seen this man in their dreams and to foster communication among them.

Bertino wrote and made his directing debut on THE STRANGERS, which was produced by Roy Lee, Doug Davison and Nathan Kahane. He also wrote the screenplay for THE STRANGERS 2 which is in pre-production for Rogue Pictures. In September, he partnered with Biddle to form Unbroken Pictures, designed to produce high quality genre movies.

Bertino and Biddle are represented by CAA and attorney Jason Sloane of Sloane, Offer, Weber and Dern. Attorney Adam Sinjin Park negotiated the deal on behalf of Andrea Natella. Dan Freedman and Craig A. Kessler negotiated the deals for the company.

ABOUT GHOST HOUSE PICTURES
Ghost House Pictures was formed as a joint venture between filmmakers Sam Raimi, Rob Tapert, Nathan Kahane and Joe Drake creating a production label dedicated to the financing, development and release of films in the horror thriller genre. The company achieved success with five consecutive #1 releases, starting with the 2004 remake of The Grudge, starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, which has grossed $188 million worldwide; The Grudge 2, which opened at number one in October 2006; Stephen T. Kay’s Boogeyman, starring Barry Watson, The Messengers, from acclaimed filmmakers Oxide and Danny Pang (The Eye), which was released in February 2007; and David Slade’s 30 Days of Night, an adaptation of the popular comic about vampires descending on an Alaskan town. Most recently, Universal Pictures released Drag Me To Hell in May 2009. The film, which was written and directed by Sam Raimi, stars Alison Lohman and Justin Long.

News of the cancellation of LotS has been a shock to many fans. No OFFICIAL (ABC Studios) word yet or from Rob Tapert but Mike Sussman and Bridget Regan have posted about this.

Mike Sussman, writer and Co-Executive Producer on Legend of the Seeker has posted the following tweet tonight:

WrittenByMikeS
The quest is complete. Thank you so much to our amazing cast, crew & all our fans, it's been an awesome two years. Will miss you all. about 1 hour ago via web

and Bridget Regan has also sent the following tweet:

BridgetRegan
@Dear_B or should I say Dear Diary? Got some news that Seeker is no more. So sad to say goodbye to my NZ family but excited for what's next. about 5 hours ago via web in reply to Dear_B

Legend of the Seeker will end after 2 seasons.

Peter Mensah (Doctore in Spartacus Blood and Sand) was interviewed for iF Magazine on his role on the show and the season finale (which happened yesterday - click here to read the AUSXIP Spartacus review). He was asked about Rob and this was his answer:

iF: A lot of people in the Sam Raimi/Robert Tapert television production team have been working together since HERCULES and XENA. What’s it like for you coming in and working with such a tight group?

MENSAH: Actually fantastic. One of the good aspects is, when you get included in a family, Rob Tapert especially has gone out of his way to make me really comfortable, it’s a nice thing to recognize that you’ve been recognized, they trust your work, because they hired me without auditioning, they just put in a call and it was a choice between this and a certain cop show, and this won hands down [laughs].

Read Full Interview

Spartacus Blood and Sand Episode 13 Recap / Review by MaryD

Credits for this episode:
Directed by Steven S. DeKnight and Jesse Warn

Writing credits (in alphabetical order) Steven S. DeKnight (written by) Brent Fletcher (story editor), Aaron Helbing (staff writer), Todd Helbing (staff writer). Miranda Kwok (staff writer)

Log Line
Spartacus’ fury culminates in the stunning season finale

Read The Review (SPOILERS)

Mega Mega Spoilers in the Boston Herald newspaper for their review of "Kill Them All".

Why can't reviewers just not give the game away? Since monstersandcritics just about ripped apart the episode for me and revealed mega spoilers (which I was silly enough to
read even as I was trying to stay spoiler free), it's not a surprise any more. Memo to reviewers, can you at least put a SPOILER WARNING in your articles? I know it's a bit late now but just had to say it.

Anyway if you want to read spoilers...this is a good article and a great write up about Lucy and the rest of the cast.

Click here to read

The Chicago Tribune has a great article on the evolution of Spartacus Blood and Sand into a terrific show. CONTAINS NO SPOILERS for the season finale

Chicago Tribune - 14 April 2010
As Season 1 ends, 'Spartacus' emerges as a gripping gladiator romp

It's hard to say what's more impressive about the Season 1 finale of "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" (9 p.m. Central Friday, Starz) -- the hour itself, which is an enormously enjoyable roller-coaster ride, or the way it artfully combines everything "Spartacus" does well.

To give away even a scrap of what happens to the gladiator Spartacus (Andy Whitfield) and his wealthy owners, Batiatus (John Hannah) and Lucretia (Lucy Lawless) would be to ruin the finale's well-designed twists and turns. Suffice to say it left a lasting impression and will no doubt remain one of my favorite TV episodes of the year.

For those who dismissed the show as a sex-obsessed "300" ripoff, think again. "Spartacus" turned out to be so much more than that, especially when it kicked into high gear midway through Season 1. Over the course of 13 hours, and especially in several well-paced recent episodes, this swords-and-togas saga became downright addictive, in part due to its distinctive dialogue, which mixes Shakespearean flourishes with "Sopranos"-esque profanity.

Read Full Article

USA Today has an article about John Hannah (Batiatus on Spartacus Blood and Sand). It features a quote from Rob about casting the role:

Yet Starz and series execs initially sought "the TV equivalent of Tom Cruise" to portray Batiatus, says Robert Tapert, Lawless' husband and Sparatcus' co-producer. "Oddly enough, this was the hardest character to cast," he says. "We had other actors, including big names. But they either couldn't get around the sex scenes or the volume of dialogue. We kept coming back to John."

Read full article

Brad Carpenter was Rob's assitant during the filming of Xena and Hercules. On the dot429 site he writes how Rob Tapert was his mentor:

In part he writes:

We all need mentors, whether personal or professional. My first true Producing mentor was Rob Tapert at Renaissance Pictures. Rob never hesitated to answer my questions about how the TV business worked. As Rob’s assistant, I would get to stay on the line during many of his calls so I could take note of things I’d need to follow up on. Sometimes Rob would be getting notes from the Studio about scripts or edits of episodes. It was my first exposure to an essential part of the collaborative process, the give and take between the Studio (the buyer) and the Producer (the supplier). When Rob traveled down to New Zealand to be on set for “Hercules” and “Xena,” he took me with him, and I quickly learned how television production functioned. I was amazed at how many talents were involved in turning out the final product. Happily, those years with Rob yielded many great experiences, including some lasting friendships, a bit of writing, and even an acting role. (Amphion, the peaceful warrior. Cool!)

Thank you Rob Tapert for starting me on my way, and for your blessed friendship all these years.

Read More

The Monstersandcritics site has a review of the season finale and if you SERIOUSLY don't want to be spoilt about who dies and who lives...don't go there.

They have spoilt it and named names.

You can also win a Spartacus t-shirt. So if you want to be spoilt for the finale..go and find out who lives and who dies.

Read article

Release Issued: April 12, 2010 1:30 PM EDT
'Spartacus: Blood and Sand' Takes Battle Worldwide in Time for MIP-TV

A Success in the U.S., Canada and the Netherlands, Starz' Series to Premiere in UK, Asia, Latin America and More

BURBANK, Calif., April 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Proclaimed the "Champion of Capua," Spartacus is now taking on the rest of the world, with Starz Entertainment's original series "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" set to debut in high-profile markets around the world. Starz Worldwide Distribution, the sales unit of the premium entertainment company, is finalizing additional markets at the 2010 MIP-TV market (Starz is based at stand RSV-25 at MIP-TV).

"Spartacus: Blood and Sand," a ratings over-achiever on Starz in the U.S., the Movie Network and Movie Central in Canada and RTL5 in the Netherlands since it premiered earlier this year, the 13-episode program has just launched or is launching soon on:

* Bravo TV in the UK, premiering May 25;
* LAPTV's MovieCity Pack in Latin America;
* OCN in South Korea, where it premiered April 9;
* HBO Central Europe in 14 territories across the region;
* And on Star Channel in Japan.

Read More

The Los Angeles Times had an article on the how superheroes portrayed in the media today have been influenced by the 19th Century composer Richard Wagner and his four-opera cycle "The Ring Of The Nibelung".

Xena - In the sixth season of the TV series "Xena: Warrior Princess," viewers learn that Xena was once an evil Valkyrie who presided over a reign of terror in the show's mythological universe. And in the series, Xena even takes a dip with the Rhine Maidens in a nod to Wagner's "Das Rheingold."

Comic-book experts say that Brünnhilde and her fellow Valkyries have influenced the recent flourishing of on-screen female action heroes whose soft-butch exteriors hide an emotionally vulnerable core.

On TV, the most recognizable offspring of Wagner's Valkyries was the title character in the cult series "Xena: Warrior Princess." In the sixth and final season, which aired in 2000-2001, viewers learned that Xena ( Lucy Lawless) was once an evil Valkyrie who presided over a reign of terror in the show's pan-mythological universe.

The season featured three episodes inspired by the "Ring." In one, Xena takes a Sapphic swim with the Rhine Maidens -- a nod to the opening of "Das Rheingold," the first opera in Wagner's cycle.

Rob Tapert, a co-creator of "Xena" who is now working on the series "Spartacus: Blood and Sand," said the entertainment industry's attraction to ancient heroes such as Wagner's is cyclical in nature due to advances in screen wizardry.

"The technology has changed and that means you can tell these stories all over again," he said from the "Spartacus" set in New Zealand. "These stories have withstood the test of time. It's really a matter of how we can do it all new for a new audience."

Read The Full Article

LOS ANGELES, CA October 2, 2009 – Ghost House Pictures has announced today the establishment of SPOOKY PICTURES, a production label dedicated to the financing, development, production and distribution of scary movies made for the family audience.

The first project under the new label, in collaboration with friends and partners Sony Pictures and Stars Road Entertainment’s Joshua Donen, will be THE SUBSTITUTE. Scott Derrickson and Paul Harris Boardman (The Exorcism of Emily Rose) will scribe the remake of acclaimed writer/ director Ole Bornedal’s 2007 Danish language thriller of the same name, with Derrickson directing. The project is being developed in cooperation with Columbia Pictures, which has an option to co-finance and distribute the picture domestically. Columbia has a first-look to distribute this and future films from Spooky Pictures.

The film will be produced by filmmakers Sam Raimi (Evil Dead, the Spider-Man franchise) and Rob Tapert (30 Days of Night, The Grudge films) through their new Spooky Pictures shingle in association with Thura Films. Russell Hollander and Nathan Kahane will executive produce alongside the makers of the Danish film Ole Bornedal and Michael Obel. Tendo Nagenda and J.R. Young will shepherd for Spooky Pictures.

THE SUBSTITUTE follows a terrified 6th grade class as they race to reveal to their parents that their new substitute teacher is an evil alien being.

Boardman and Derrickson previous collaborations include Exorcism of Emily Rose and THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL. They are repped by WME, Brillstein Entertainment Partners, and attorney Karl Austen of Jackoway Tyerman Wertheimer Austen Mandelbaum Morris & Klein. Sam Raimi is represented by CAA and attorney Craig Jacobson. Ole Bornedal is repped by WME, Danny Sherman at Principal Entertainment and attorney Andrew Hurwitz at Schreck Rose Dapello Adams & Hurwitz. Michael Obel is repped by WME. For Spooky Pictures, Rob McEntegart negotiated the remake rights and Columbia deals, and Dan Freedman negotiated the Boardman/Derrickson deal. Principal Entertainment, WME and Andrew Hurwitz brokered the deal between Thura Films and Spooky Pictures.

The following movies are being produced by Rob (Ghost House Pictures):

Warcraft
Warcraft is still in the scripting process bu it will take place about a year before the events of World of Warcraft. The storyline is "principally told from the Alliance perspective." After revealing that detail, and waiting for the Horde aligned players to finish their booing, Metzen explained "While my heart lies with the Horde and Thrall's an interesting character, from a movie making standpoint, a blockbuster movie its a little rough to try and tell it from the perspective of this green looking dude." Read More

Director - Sam Raimi
Executive Producer - Robert Tapert
Producer - Joshua Donen
Writer - Robert Rodat

GHOST HOUSE PICTURES

Burst 3D
An isolated town endures an alien invasion that causes victims to spontaneously combust during a severe snowstorm. A young woman running from her troubles finds herself stranded at a lodge with a group of strangers. One after another, they inexplicably begin to burst into pieces. Shock quickly descends into paranoia as nobody knows who to trust. And as the mystery unravels, the survivors realize that what's causing this unstoppable phenomenon is bigger and more disturbing than anyone could have ever imagined.

Release Date: No Release Date Available
Director: Neil Marshall
Writer: Gary Dauberman
Studio: Ghost House Pictures

Anguish
Anguish, which centers on two girls who discover their lives begin to mirror the plot of a scary film they recently watched, will be penned by Jack Wade Wall (When a Stranger Calls, Hitcher). There's no director for the remake of the 1987 original yet, but we do know Anguish's production team will also include members from Vertigo Entertainment, the same guys previously involved with The Strangers.

Release Date: No Release Date Available
Director:
Writer: Jack Wade Wall
Studio: Ghost House Pictures

 

The Dorm (aka Room 205)
Wanting a fresh start, Katrine moves into a university dormitory but quickly learns the myth about a ghost of a former resident who was killed. The myth soon becomes a terrifying reality.

Release Date: No Release Date Available
Director: Martin Barnewitz
Writer: Stephen Susco
Studio: Ghost House Pictures

 

Monkey's Paw
"Paw" concerns a father who brings home an artifact rumored to make any wish come true, but misfortune begins to befall the family with every desire granted.

Release Date: No Release Date Available
Director:
Writer: Dave Kajganich and Tom McAlister
Studio: Ghost House Pictures

 

Incident at Sans Asylum
The film follows aspiring musicians working as cooks for the criminally insane who find themselves locked in the asylum when a major thunderstorm hits.

Release Date: No Release Date Available
Director: Daniel Calparsoro
Writer: S. Craig Zahler
Studio: Ghost House Pictures and Vertigo Entertainment


Untitled Fede Alvarez project
Ghost House Pictures has made a deal with Uruguayan commercials director Fede Alvarez to direct his pitch for an alien invasion film.

Release Date: No Release Date Available
Director: Fede Alvarez
Writer: Fede Alvarez
Studio: Ghost House Pictures

Spartacus Blood and Sand Episode Recap / Review
Season 1 Episode 12 Revelations
by MaryD

Lucretia and Batiatus await the arrival of Glaber with the intentions to receive his patronage, while Spartacus focuses his attention on his plan for revenge. Friday, 4/9 at 10pm et/pt on Starz.

Read Full Recap / Review

Lionsgate has acquired North American rights to Dibbuk Box, a horror film to be penned by Knowing writers Juliet Snowden and Stiles White. Ghost House Pictures partners Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert will produce.

Dibbuk Box is a fictional retelling of Los Angeles Times writer Leslie Gornstein's article "Jinx in a Box" about an antique wooden box purchased on eBay which reportedly had been brought to America by a Holocaust survivor after World War II. The box, supposedly containing an evil spirit, brought devastating effects to a series of buyers.

Inspired by these real events, the movie centers around a cursed relic containing mysterious familial tokens that is mistakenly purchased and its new owner must solve its mystery to save her own family.

Lionsgate and Ghost House are also developing Burst 3D.

Source

Sex and Gore? That's Ancient History
By CHARLES McGRATH

WHEN the Victorians were feeling gloomy about their prospects they used to compare themselves to the ancient Romans. They read Gibbon, Plutarch and Tacitus and looked for parallels: a society burdened by empire, corrupted by wealth, deficient in manly virtue. Lately we have been doing much the same, only instead of consulting the Latin texts we turn to screen epics like "Gladiator," the HBO series "Rome," and the 2007 Zack Snyder film "300," which, strictly speaking, was about Spartans, not Romans, but let's not be fussy. The cable channel Starz, as part of an effort to expand its slate of original programming, is extending this classical tradition with "Spartacus: Blood and Sand," a 13-part series that starts Friday, and has already taken the unusual step of commissioning a second season before the first one even runs. [...]

The early episodes include a number of well-drawn personalities, many of them plucked (or embellished) right from Plutarch, our main source for what little we know about Spartacus, a man, the text says, "not only of high spirit and valiant, but in understanding and in gentleness superior to his condition." (Plutarch does not mention abs or lats, which Andy Whitfield, an Australian actor who plays the character, has in abundance, but they probably go without saying.)

Read the full article

Metro News has an interview with Rob Tapert - 15 January 2010:

When the promotional trailer for the new series Spartacus: Blood and Sand was released during San Diego Comic Con, many viewers were surprised by the amount of, well, blood -- and naked flesh.

Along with plenty of slow-motion spurting arteries, there are some quick -- and some not-so-quick -- flashes of nearly ever inch of the cast, including Andy Witfield (as the titular gladiator) and Xena: Warrior Princess and Battlestar Galactica vet Lucy Lawless.

"(The network) wanted to do something that's groundbreaking and boundary-pushing," explains series executive producer Rob Tapert, who put the show together along with fellow executive producer Sam Raimi (himself no stranger to buckets of blood) and writer Stephen S. DeKnight, who cut his teeth writing for Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel.

Read More

Fanbolt interviews Steven and Rob about the show:
We had the pleasure of chatting with 'Spartacus' executive producers Steven S. DeKnight and Robert Tapert about their new project which premieres this month on Starz.

Check it out below!

Is there a connection to Stanley Kubrick's "Spartacus" movie in terms of story?


Steven S. DeKnight: We have a prosthetic penis called the Kirk Douglas. Yes we do. It's Spartacus, so it's been told several different times. Rob and I both love the movie. I know Kubrick was a little cool on it himself. I remember when I saw it as a kid and just loved it, loved that world. Once we started digging into it, the big surprise for me was how little is known about Spartacus. Especially his history before he broke out and started making trouble for the Romans. There's literally a page and a half of stuff you can read, and it's just scraps. It's fragments from different historians. Most of them a 100 years later to 200 years later. His true history is just a complete mystery to everybody. It really gave a chance to dig into that storyline.
Once we get to the point that everyone knows from the Kubrick movie, there is still a ton of material and anecdotes about this ongoing war for like a year and half and how it built up. When they first escaped, they didn't escape to make a statement about slavery or bring down the Roman Republic. They just wanted to get the hell out of there. Then it just snowballed to the point of almost getting to the gates of Rome. It's going to be as Lucy said, something that we all believe greatly in. As a piece of entertainment and it rises above most of what's out there.Speaking of Lucy, Rob called me up at the office the other day, and said Steven what you think about my wife as Lacretia? I said I was thinking exactly the same thing, I just didn't know quite how to approach it. From the start when I created that character, I thought she would be perfect for the role. She was perfect for the role, and she just knocks it out.

Read Full Interview

Film Review Online has a great interview with Rob Tapert and Sam Raimi about Spartacus Blood and Sand

Spartacus: Blood and Sand - Sam Raimi & Rob Tapert
Film Review Online - 01 January 2010

Partners for many years, Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert were the Executive Producers of the landmark syndicated series Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules: Legendary Journeys, which both ran for six seasons. In 2002, Raimi and Tapert formed Ghost House Pictures which was dedicated to the development of high-concept genre films; their impressive roster of releases include, The Grudge, 30 Days of Night, Boogeyman and Drag Me to Hell.

This season they return to television with a new take on ancient Rome with the story of Spartacus: Blood and Sand. Betrayed by the Romans and forced into slavery, Spartacus (Andy Whitfield) is reborn as a Gladiator. Airing on the cable network Starz, the series holds nothing back in terms of violence, sexuality or language.

Read Full Interview

“Betrayed by his country. Beaten into slavery. Reborn as a warrior.” That’s the tag-line for the upcoming STARZ series, SPARTACUS: BLOOD AND SAND. At the recent press event for the series, producer ROB TAPERT was on hand to preview scenes and assure us that this series would be unlike anything we’ve seen on television.

Influenced greatly by “300,” in the style of popular graphic novels and heavily infused with sex, SPARTACUS promises to be a far cry from the 1960 KIRK DOUGLAS version we grew up with. According to TAPERT, who was also behind TV’s HERCULES and XENA:WARRIOR PRINCESS, this show will have a special flavor all its own. Listen in below:

Click here to listen to the audio