Starz Renews Spartacus Months Before Second Season Even Premieres

Today Starz announced that Spartacus has been renewed for a third season – even as its second isn’t slated to start up until January 27th. Liam McIntyre takes over the lead role in Spartacus: Vengeance after the terribly sad passing of star Andy Whitfield. Production on the third season (yet to be named) will begin in 2012 and is likely to air in early 2013.

Spartacus: Blood and Sand premiered in 2010 and became the network’s first real breakout hit in original programming. The series’ first few episodes weren’t great but then all of the sudden it became unbelievably compelling and entertaining with each episode topping the next. With Whitfield entering treatment for non-hodgkin lymphoma the network decided to produce a prequel, Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, consisting of six episodes that aired early this year which turned out to be really good as well. The confidence in extending the series this early is especially encouraging when considering how well the show will handle the switch in lead actor as well as no longer having John Hannah’s fan-favorite role involved.