14 DAY TRIAL // Producers have confirmed that, following Andy Whitfield’s announcement that his cancer had relapsed, they are now seriously considering pulling the plug on the show.
A little over a week ago, Whitfield announced that, unfortunately, his cancer was back and he had to go back to intensive treatment, which meant he couldn’t come back to work on the second season of the show.
At the time, producers refrained from going on the record with what they thought would be the fate of the show and only wished Andy the best.
Now, they’re officially telling Michael Ausiello of The Ausiello Files that cancelation is an option, one of the two they have at hand.
In other words, the series can either go ahead with a brand new actor, which could alienate some of the fans, or it could come to a sudden end because of the latest complication.
“Steven S. DeKnight reveals that one of two things will likely happen: a new actor will be brought in to replace Whitfield or the series will end,” Ausiello writes.
“The two main options are to close up shop or recast. I want to talk to Andy and find out how he feels about the options. That’s obviously very important to us,” DeKnight explains.
That means that, to this date, a decision has not been made, so fans of the Starz series should not lose all hope just yet.
“We’re still absorbing what’s happened. I think it’s going to be a little while before we reach any conclusions,” the producer adds.
“DeKnight says his primary concern remains Whitfield, who bowed out of the show’s second season after doctors advised him to resume ‘aggressive treatment’ for Non-Hodgkin lymphoma,” Ausiello writes.
As we also informed you a short while ago, when Andy was initially diagnosed with cancer and he let producers know, a decision was made to put “Spartacus” on hold.
Thus, a 6-episode prequel, “Spartacus: Gods of the Arena,” was shot without him; it will premiere in January 2011.
Sadly, pulling a similar stunt is not a viable option for the second time around though, in all fairness, the prequel does buy producers some time until they decide the fate of the entire show.