Netflix released the first official trailer Wednesday for Marco Polo, a series created by Dave Frusco (Young Guns I & II, Hidalgo) that dares to challenge HBO’s reigning status as the king of swords, blood, and nudity.
Polo was originally set to air on the Starz network, but complications with filming in China ultimately ended up in the property reverting back to The Weinstein Company, which then found a new home for it as a Netflix Original. The YouTube description on the trailer describes the show as:
“Intrigue. Deception. Bloodshed. These are just some of the obstacles awaiting legendary explorer Marco Polo as he navigates the inner court of 13th century ruler, Kublai Khan. From the back alleys of Venice to the perilous Silk Road, from the opulence of the Imperial City to the battlefields of China, Marco Polo is an epic action-adventure, where cultures clash, blood is spilled, and lies are told…”
The show’s pilot is directed by Norwegian duo Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg, who helmed the Academy Award-nominated Kon-Tiki and are in preproduction for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, the fifth film in that series. Rønning and Sandberg will also serve as executive producers of Marco Polo, along with Bob and Harvey Weinstein and Frusco. Insert joke about the Weinsteins editing out the good parts of the show here.
Screengrab via Netflix/YouTube