Lucy Lawless, Andy Whitfield and more to promote Starz’ upcoming Sam Raimi-produced action series Spartacus: Blood and Sand at Comic-Con ’09

Stars Lucy Lawless, Andy Whitfield and Peter Mensah, along with Executive Producers Rob Tapert and Steven S. DeKnight, will be giving audiences a first-ever look at Starz upcoming original drama Spartacus: Blood and Sand, and will be unveiling the exclusive first edition of the series-inspired comic with special Comic Con cover.

In the new series Spartacus: Blood and Sand, the world of gladiators comes to life as the Roman Republic’s most brutal fighters clash in the ultimate arena. The show features an entirely new vision of the ancient legend and will utilize virtual environments giving it a unique graphic novel look and style, along with a fresh narrative approach. Debuting exclusively on Starz in January 2010, ‘Spartacus’ is produced by Starz Media with executive producers Steven DeKnight (Smallville, Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Rob Tapert (The Grudge, Xena: Warrior Princess, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys), Sam Raimi (Spider-Man, Evil Dead) and Joshua Donen. The new series was inspired by the actual slave of the Roman Republic who in 73 B.C. led a slave revolt that grew to more than 120,000 fighters. Defying the Roman Republic’s legions of soldiers, they campaigned for two years through much of what is now Italy before succumbing to a much larger army. The new series is said to tell a new set of stories rich in character, action, sex and combat.

This series will include 13 one-hour episodes, with production based in New Zealand and running through the end of October 2009.

Devil’s Due Publishing is teaming with Starz to publish the comic book miniseries based on the show.