Orange Is the New Black, House of Cards, and Arrested Development have been major, Emmy-nominated successes for Netflix, but Marco Polo will be their first HUGE original show. Put another way: Lilyhammer is The Newsroom; Marco Polo is Game of Thrones. In fact, the Benedict Wong-starring, 10-episode series cost $90 million to make, making it the world’s second most expensive TV show, behind only, yup, Game of Thrones.

Why is Netflix taking such an expensive risk? Well, like your grandfather, blame the foreigners.

“It is no secret that we want Netflix to be a global product,” said Ted Sarandos, its chief content officer. “That is the mission.” (Via)

So far, it’s been a struggle: yes, Netflix added two million European subscribers, but that’s hundreds of thousands less than they expected, which is why the company’s stock recently dropped by 20%. Meanwhile, “infrastructure issues like establishing payment systems for customers proved difficult in Latin America.” Netflix sorely needs an international hit.

Enter the “East-meets-West epic” Marco Polo.

“We just tried to make the most exciting, entertaining show we could about this very special world and hope that it would be accessible in a lot of different markets, in a lot of different regions,” said Dan Minahan, an executive producer of the series. (Via)

OK, but what about the universal language?

Executives and producers said they hoped that Marco Polo — filmed in Italy, Kazakhstan, and Malaysia with an international cast of hundreds and filled with gory battles, sexual allure, adventure, martial arts, and political intrigue — would resonate with viewers around the world. (Via)

Everyone speaks boobs and blood. Marco Polo premieres on December 12th.

Via NY Times