Steven DeKnight

’Spartacus’ remake a ’R-rated-hard-hard show’

TCA — Starz’s new series version of "Spartacus" will be "a totally R-rated-hard-hard show," say producers Rob Tapert and Steven S. DeKnight.

The producers say they see an opportunity for an intensely graphic action-drama series in the TV universe. The first draft of the script, they say, was basically “NC-17” in terms of sex and violence and is being toned down — slightly.

“Much like ‘300,’ there will be a visual beauty to the way it is shot,” says showrunner DeKnight. “There’s an ode to violence ... there are decapitations, people being split in half ... we don’t want to shy away form violence or sexuality. The beauty of being on premium cable is there is no story we can’t tell.”

Still, even premium cable has limits, and a separate international version seems likely, producers say, since “American standards and practices are the most severe and draconian of anywhere in the world.”

The 100% green-screen production will “never go outside” and will take its visual cues from the comic-book styling of movies such as “Sin City.” Yet producers agreed they’ll have to find a fresh balance between realism and style, that watching a landscape as severely tricked-out as “300” could be a bit much week after week.

“You could not watch a series that way; it does not invite you into it on a weekly basis,” says executive producer Rob Tapert, who describes the series as “Gladiator meets "Deadwood.” “The stylization will come into the action scenes ... but once you get into [for instance a] bedroom you will have a look that will be slightly stylized, but no more so than a modern action movie ... it won’t be intensely monochromatic ... we will make sure the process serves the storytelling and not the other way around.”

“Spartacus” will have some horrific barbarian characters, he adds, but it won’t blur the line into historical fantasy by adding monsters the way “300” did.

Another inspiration is HBO’s now-defunct “Rome,” which producers say they loved, but that their series will have “more testosterone.”

“There’s a gladiator fight in the first season of ‘Rome’ that I leaped off my couch when I saw it," DeKnight says, "and that will be more like what ‘Spartacus’ will be like."

Then there’s Stanley Kubrick’s 1960 theatrical version. Producers of the Starz series say their story will cover the same ground as Kubrick’s tale, plus have additional characters and story lines.

“There are fascinating bits and pieces to the ‘Spartacus’ story they didn’t have time to put into the movie,” DeKnight says.

No footage was shown to critics, since the production is still searching for an “undiscovered action star” to play the lead.