BERLIN — Michael Hirst, the writer behind The Tudors and the History Channel’s upcoming Vikings series, has signed on to pen the script to Alexander, a new limited series on the life of Macedonian commander Alexander the Great, which is being co-produced by Germany’s ZDF Enterprises, Beta Film and Gruppe 5 Filmproduktion.
Gruppe 5 managing partner Uwe Kersken, who initiated the project, will work closely with Hirst on finalizing the concept and first scripts for the production, which the companies say will run 8 to 12 one-hour episodes. The plan is to have a three-season run for Alexander with shooting set to start in 2014.
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The life of Alexander the Great has been filmed many times before, for film and television. The most recent big-screen version was Oliver Stone’s Alexander (2004) featuring Colin Farrell as the military genius who conquered most of the known world before his death at 33.
