A prequel to the Starz channel's hit series "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" is in the works.
Andy Whitfield played the gladiator hero in its breakout first season and will briefly appear in the prequel. But co-stars Lucy Lawless and John Hannah take center stage for the six-episode miniseries leading up to Spartacus' arrival as a captured Thracian slave.
Shooting begins in New Zealand this summer.
Production of the "Spartacus" series' second season was postponed this spring when Whitfield was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The cable television network says Whitfield is responding well to treatment.
The network said Tuesday it looks forward to continuing the Spartacus saga.
The still-untitled prequel is scheduled to start airing next January.