Photo by Heritage Art/Heritage Images via Getty Images
Netflix is going to be exploring the life of Alexander the Great in a new hybrid documentary drama series.
Expected to be a six-episode series with each being around 45 minutes long, the project is described as a “landmark scripted drama-documentary series reveals the extraordinary life of Alexander the Great in a way never told before – through his radical transformation from warrior prince to living God.”
Lion Television, founded by Nick Catliff and Richard Bradley, are behind the new project for Netflix with their prior projects, including Age of Empires IV, Horrible Histories, Saving Venice, and Stolen – Catching the Art Thieves.
We’re told the series aims to be released on Netflix in 2023 and will join a slew of other hybrid historical docudramas that have been released on Netflix over the years. Some of the biggest include Age of Samurai: Battle for Japan, Rise of Empires: Ottoman, and Roman Empire.
Netflix declined to comment.
The series is expected to be directed by Hugh Ballantyne (The Investigator: A British Crime Story) and show run by Tony Mitchell. The project began shooting in Morocco in September 2022 with an eye to completing in late spring of 2023.
According to Deadline, “a crew of more than 100 people has been filming on-and-off in Morocco since last summer on the hybrid docudrama.”
Who is Alexander the Great?
Alexander the Great is one of the most prolific figures in history
The historical figure was a Macedonian king who lived from 356 BC to 323 BC and inherited the throne at age 20 upon his father’s assassination.
Alexander is known for his military conquests also being a patron of the arts, which included the defeat of the Persian Empire, the conquest of Egypt, and the expansion of his empire to India. He is regarded as one of the greatest military commanders in history, known for his strategic thinking and his ability to inspire his troops.
Over the course of six episodes, the hybrid-docu-drama will tell the definitive story of the rise of Alexander the Great and how his obsession with defeating the mighty Persian Emperor Darius led him to conquer the known world.
In recent years, a scripted Alexander the Great series was thought to be in development with Vikings scribe Michael Hirst on board and Starlings Television. A project with Alexander the Great was also rumored to be at Netflix in 2020, but at the time, Netflix denied any involvement.
We’ll update this preview in the coming months as we learn more about Netflix’s Alexander the Great.
