Starz is putting its lens on the Ottoman Empire.
The male-skewing cable network, through its co-production deal with BBC Worldwide Productions, is developing Harem, a potential six-hour series exploring the reign of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent and the rise and fall of the Ottoman Empire.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe scribe Ann Peacock is near a deal to pen the project, which is based on an original idea by Gina Gershon.
Harem would tell the story of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent, the longest-reigning sultan of the Ottoman Empire who reconstructed its legal system and presided over the fleet's annexation of most of the Middle East.
The Starz project would revolve around Roxelana, a beautiful young slave girl whose ambitions knew no bounds and whose marriage to Suleyman kicked off what became known as the "Reign of Women."
The project would mark Peacock's return to television since her Emmy win for A Lesson Before Dying. Repped by CAA, Principato-Young and attorney Don Steele, Peacock is currently working on Universal's Cinderella.
Harem would mark the second project under the Starz-BBC co-production deal; the cable net ordered David Goyer's eight-episode Da Vinci's Demons historical drama in October.
The project would also continue the premium cable's love affair with the sword-and-sandals genre. The network has found success with Spartacus and its various incarnations.
Starz declined comment.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Harem - Starz Developing Six-Hour Ottoman Empire Series
Nov 11, 2011
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If it were HBO, AMC, FX or SHO I would be excited for this since I'd love to have a show in the vein of Rome again even if it's just a 6 part mini-series. But it's Starz and title & premise sound like it will be highly reduced to nudity and sex.
ReplyDeleteI was kind of hoping that Starz would do this 8 part Aztec mini series, but I haven't heard anything about that for some months now. And again, Starz... There's always a lot of doubt when they are involved.
what else Aztec mini series?
ReplyDeleteWell, here's what Deadline reported:
ReplyDeleteAztecs, which is being eyed as a 8-part mini-series for Starz,
is a historic re-telling of the romantic relationship between Hernan
Cortes and Malinali whose love story was a twisted tale of passion and
deceit, of murder, ambition, and shattered dreams that brought an
empire to its knees, forever altering the fate of America and Europe.
Hans Beimler is writing the project, which is based on an original
treatment and is not related to Aztec, a mini-series project
based on the best-selling book by Gary Jennings, which has been
shepherded by Alfonso Arau and Grant Turk.
A mini-Series about the Aztec culture sounds great, but with Starz I'm sure they would be focusing on this love-story, nudity and human sacrifice. But I haven't heard about it for some time now, so I guess it's a dead project anyway.
Haha male-skewing network. I watch Starz stuff and like it and am a woman. Even if it's not up to par with HBO or Showtime, it's still better than 90% of the crap that's on the airwaves.
ReplyDeleteThe problem I have with many Starz shows is that they actually have a lot of potential, but somehow they are trying too hard to also make them sexy and stylish instead of focusing on the story and the characters. While I agree on the fact that there's much worse stuff on the air, I'm often just disappointed by how much better their shows could be and by all the lost potential.
ReplyDeleteSounds interesting.
ReplyDeleteIf Gina Gershon is in it then so am I. Also I can't wait to see how they'll transform it from feminist to sexploatation story. Go Starz!
ReplyDelete