NETFLIX is setting sail with Marco Polo ahead of its Dec. 12 premiere.

    The streaming service’s new original series, about the explorer’s adventures in Kublai Khan’s court in 13th century China, will be available Dec. 12.

    The 10-episode drama, created by John Fusco, stars Italian newcomer Lorenzo Richelmy as Polo and Benedict Wong as Kublai Khan. Chinese-American Joan Chen plays Empress Chabi, Kublai Khan’s wife and adviser.

    “Marco Polo” is produced by The Weinstein Co., marking the studio’s first scripted dramatic TV project. Netflix reportedly is paying US$90 million for the 10-episode first season, shot primarily in Kazakhstan, Malaysia and Venice.

    Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos said the series is the company’s most ambitious original programing event in terms of size and scope, encompassing a cast and crew of some 800 people who spoke 26 languages. “It’s a world you would have never seen before on television,” he said at the series premiere in New York City.

    “Marco Polo” has drawn comparisons to HBO’s “Game of Thrones” with its medieval feel, which includes big battles, swordplay and political machinations. Harvey Weinstein happily played up the linkage, claiming “Marco Polo” may be the biggest TV production ever with the exception of “Game of Thrones.”

    “It might look like ‘Game of Thrones,’ but it sure didn’t cost what ‘Game of Thrones’ did,” said Weinstein.

    Fusco said he was inspired to develop the story of Polo after a trip he took with his son through Mongolia to cross part of Genghis Khan’s trail on horseback. “The thing is, Marco Polo has been buried under this dusty shroud of myth,” Fusco said. “If you read his accounts, it’s much more exciting than how most people think of him.”

    The story opens with the Polo family’s three-year trek from Venice to Mongolia — after which Polo’s father offers him to Kublai Khan as a servant.

    Actress Chen said she was impressed by the full dedication of the cast and crew to the series, especially the attention to detail. “Everybody felt like we were doing something special,” she said. “That’s a great environment to work in.”

    (SD-Agencies)