EXCLUSIVE: Steven S. Knight’s big return to the “Spartacus” Universe with Spartacus: House of Ashur will not go beyond its freshman season at Starz, which has canceled the gladiator drama. Lionsgate Television, which produces the series, is currently shopping it to other platforms, sources tell Deadline.
The Spartacus sequel could not match the buzz and viewership levels of the original 2010 series. Additionally, the makeup of the follow-up’s audience did not quite align with Starz’s focus on women and underrepresented audiences, sources said.
The sword-and-sandal genre is inherently male-skewing and popular with white viewers. Still, like its predecessor, House of Ashur features a diverse cast with storylines that feature prominently women and characters of underrepresented backgrounds. Examples include powerful Black gladiatrix Achillia, played by Tenika Davis, as well as multiple spotlights of LGBTQIA+ characters.
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Following Starz’s split from Lionsgate, House of Ashur is also no longer owned by the network. To shore up its financial future, Starz has been leaning into more owned series such as Fightland, executive produced by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, and the as-yet-untitled family drama set in the world of Black rodeo in Texas. The Nick E. Taraby-led House of Ashur was picked up by Starz in 2023, prior to its separation from Lionsgate.
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Spartacus: House of Ashur asks the question: What if Ashur, who died in Spartacus: Vengeance, had lived, and the Romans rewarded his treachery with the gladiator school where he once bled?
Set in an alternate timeline, Ashur returned in the new series. No longer a slave, Ashur has clawed his way to power, owning the same ludus that once owned him. But ruling a band of merciless gladiators is child’s play compared to surviving the savage world of Roman politics — a cutthroat game in which betrayal isn’t a sin, it’s currency.
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He flips tradition on its head by unleashing Achillia, a fierce and powerful gladiatrix eager to prove herself worthy in a man’s world. Together, they ignite a new kind of spectacle that shocks, disrupts, and offends the elite with every drop of blood.
In addition to Tarabay and Davis, the cast also includes Graham McTavish, Jordi Webbe, Jamaica Vaughan, Ivana Baquero, Claudia Black as Cossutia, India Shaw-Smith, Jackson Gallagher, Jaime Slater, and Leigh Gill. Lucy Lawless returned to the franchise in the premiere episode to set up the alternate timeline.