So there’s finally been a decision about what Starz‘ production of Spartacus: Blood and Sand is going to do, since title star Andy Whitfield is unable to resume his role, due to the return of his Non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
The happy news: The show must go on! Spartacus will move forward with long-held plans for a second season and presumably, beyond.
The sad news: Unsurprisingly, since Whitfield can’t resume his role, the show will recast the part of Spartacus with a different actor. It’s an unfortunate reality of the business that as much as the show wanted to retain Whitfield’s services — and even delayed production on Season 2 by a year to wait for his recovery — if the show dissolves, so do a lot of people’s jobs.
That’s about all that’s currently known. There’s no word yet on who might be on the producers’ short list for taking over the role. Or when production might resume.
Production is underway right now on the prequel miniseries Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, which is expected to air early next year.