Take the on-location, epic vistas of Game of Thrones, add in the heavily ethnic flavor of Outlander (but make it Asian instead of Scottish), and then mix with a healthy dose of "heightened history" storytelling along the lines of Vikings, and you might come up with something kind of like Marco Polo.
The fact that Netflix is the exclusive home of this new 10-part series should make your ears perk up, since Netflix has quickly become HBO's fiercest competitor for high-quality, no-holds-barred original television. Netflix is launching the series on December 12, and as is the company's paradigm, you'll be able to binge-watch the entire season without waiting a week for new episodes.
Inspired by the true story of Marco Polo's early life, the series stars Lorenzo Richelmy as the title character, a man who gets swept into a brutal war in 13th Century China where he finds himself a reluctant operative for Kublai Khan. Netflix describes the series as colored with greed, betrayal, rivalry, spectacular battles, political skullduggery, exotic martial arts and sexual intrigue.
As you can see in the just-released trailer, you can't accuse Marco Polo of not being ambitious enough. (Note: This trailer is mildly NSFW due to some just-barely-obscured nudity.)
Shot largely on location in Italy, Kazakhstan and Malaysia, Marco Polo is created by John Fusco, best known for writing Hidalgo, Young Guns and Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron. He will serve as showrunner along with Dan Minahan, a TV director who's worked on dozens of shows including Game of Thrones, Homeland, True Blood and Grey's Anatomy. Up-and-comers Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg of Kon-Tiki and the upcoming Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales directed the first two episodes.
Image: Phil Bray for Netflix (cropped)
