starz

Starz’s ‘Spartacus: The Series’ Strenuous To Say With Lisp

6:05AM Seth | Sam Raimi is executive producing Spartacus for Starz, a gladiator drama whose look and tone will owe more to 300 than it will to the 1960 Kirk Douglas movie. So it won’t be suggestively homoerotic, but rather overtly homoerotic. We’re seeing plenty of cross-promotional broadcast potential on Starz sister-channel, Gayz! [THR] Warners has bought the rights to Japanese anime movie Ninja Scroll. The rights to commenter scroll_lock’s life story, however, are still available, and would make a compelling action/suicider. [Variety] The economy is affecting your quality of life in ways you hadn’t even thought of: It’s being fingered as the reason a group of struggling new shows like Knight Rider, Private Practice, and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles have been given full-season pickups. [THR] After the jump: Is it a Dr. No or a Dr. Yes? Chinese weigh in on the new Bond film. More »

‘Crash: The Show’ To Capitalise On Weekly Racist Cliffhangers

10:45AM Seth | Out of the 2006 Oscars came many things, among them an unlikely two-horse sprint—one gay, one racist and mangled—between Brokeback Mountain and Crash for Best Picture. Crash would win, its tapestry of bigoted Angelenos embarking upon a futuristic death race for ultimate ethnic supremacy striking a chord in many Academy voters. Some time passed, and news came down the transom that Crash would become a weekly TV series on Starz. (While Brokeback Mountain: The Series never really progressed past the point of some preliminary interest at that network’s specialty offshoot, Gayz.) Well, friends, we’re thrilled to now present for you the Crash series trailer. It might not have Matt Dillon and Sandra Bullock, but it does have Dennis Hopper—who told us personally about his enthusiasm for the series (“We had an orgy the other day. For me it’s a joy,”), and who in it delivers what is sure to become his signature phrase (”OOOhhh—I’m scared of a black man with a gun!”) with admirable aplomb. [Crash] More »

Lionsgate, Starz Delivering The ‘Crash’ TV Series Your Secret Inner Racist’s Been Craving

6:55AM Mark | When we briefly worked through the ramifications of the interim deal that Lionsgate struck with the WGA late last week, our thoughts immediately turned to the eventual resumption of production of the company’s critically acclaimed, hit TV properties like Mad Men, daring to dream that our favourite hard-drinking, secretary-despoiling ad execs might find their way back to AMC in the not-too-distant future. But we never thought to consider the potential dark side of LG’s television business lurching back into action, and so were shocked to learn this afternoon that the studio is partnering with Starz, our go-to premium-cable movie outlet when HBO seems to be showing nothing but Just My Luck and The Devil Wears Prada, to adapt subtle, multiple-Oscar-winning L.A. race-parable Crash for the small screen. The good news: according to Var, “high production values” and the participation of the original, uniquely heavy-handed creative team will ensure a viewing experience every bit as fulfilling as your original trip to the multiplex. The bad news: More »