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A Look at Starz’ Camelot

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Starz has posted a preview of its upcoming series Camelot, which boasts an impressive — if rather young — cast. Creator Chris Chibnall has penned a fresh take on the Arthur legend, which takes advantages of the freedoms offered by pay cable TV. Camelot stars Jamie Campbell Bower (Sweeney Todd, New Moon) as Arthur, Tamsin Egerton (Driving Lessons) as Guinevere, Joseph Fiennes (Shakespeare in Love, Flashforward) as Merlin, Claire Forlani (Meet Joe Black, CSI: NY) as Queen Igraine, and Eva Green (Casino Royale) as Morgan — aka villainess Morgana le Fay.

Here’s Starz’ official description of the series:

In the wake of King Uther’s sudden death, chaos threatens to engulf Britain. When the sorcerer Merlin has visions of a dark future, he installs the young and impetuous Arthur, Uther’s unknown son and heir, who has been raised from birth as a commoner. But Arthur’s cold and ambitious half sister Morgan will fight him to the bitter end, summoning unnatural forces to claim the crown in this epic battle for control. These are dark times indeed for the new King, with Guinevere being the only shining light in Arthur’s harsh world. Faced with profound moral decisions, and the challenge of uniting a kingdom broken by war and steeped in deception, Arthur will be tested beyond imagination. Forget everything you think you know… this is the story of Camelot that has never been told before.

A new take on Camelot

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Starz continues to expand its portfolio of original programming, this time with a retelling of the legend of King Arthur. Camelot is scheduled to begin shooting in late June for a 10-episode series order. It’s slated to air in early 2011.

The network has just announced the main cast of Camelot, and it has a few names you might recognize. Joseph Fiennes stars as the wizard Merlin (and hey, was that was fast or what, right off the cancelation of FlashForward?), while Eva Green (Daniel Craig’s first “Bond girl,” Vesper Lynd) is his villainous foil, Morgana Le Fay. This marks Green’s first role for television.

Starring as Arthur is 21-year-old Jamie Campbell Bower, who’s following-up on a series of small parts in high-profile films such as Sweeney Todd, The Twilight Saga: New Moon, and the upcoming Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Newcomer Tamsin Egerton rounds out the cast as Guinevere.

After what Starz did with Spartacus, it should be interesting to see what they come up with in regards to King Arthur. How will it differentiate itself from other tellings of the Arthur legend? Can it stand out from the crowd, even from the BBC’s currently-running Merlin?

Camelot series to be developed

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With the success of The Tudors, the people behind the series has decided to make another series and this time they will be mining the Camelot myth.

Michael Hirst and Morgan O’Sullivan will be developing a contemporary series that will be based on Camelot. Hirst will be developing the scripts and will also executive produce with O’Sullivan.

Showtime and BBC will be co-financing the project.