Netflix has announced the premiere date for its anticipated historical series Marco Polo – December 12th. The first season will contain ten episodes.

Relative newcomer Lorenzo Richelmy (Il Terzo Tempo) will play the title role. Benedict Wong (Prometheus), Zhu Zhu (Cloud Atlas), Tom Wu (Skyfall), Remy Hii (Treading Water) and Rick Yune (Olympus Has Fallen) will also feature in the series.

The show is described as “a kinetic tale of high politics, masterful manipulation and deadly warfare among clashing empires.”

“The famed explorer’s journey takes him to the center of a brutal war in 13th century China, a world replete with exotic martial arts, political skullduggery, spectacular battles and sexual intrigue,” says Netflix.

Here's a first look at Netflix's Marco Polo. He's the little one in the middle: http://t.co/GFpcl1ifFN pic.twitter.com/F3ZgEoROoL

— Empire Magazine (@empiremagazine) August 28, 2014

First photos from #MarcoPolo, coming to @netflix http://t.co/5Zb0nbqsCG pic.twitter.com/8peF4MHGmx

— ComingSoon.net (@comingsoonnet) August 28, 2014

Starz originally owned the rights to the series, a Weinstein production, but Netflix picked it up last fall after progress on it stalled. Production began in April.

Image via PR Newswire