Showtime Gives Third-Season Order for The Tudors

LOS ANGELES, April 23: A
third season of The Tudors has
been commissioned by Showtime to premiere in 2009, with production slated to
begin June 16 in Dublin, Ireland.

Jonathan Rhys Meyers, who
stars as King Henry VIII, will return for the new season. The Tudors is an Ireland-Canada co-production created, written
and executive produced by Michael Hirst.

"The Tudors is now a fixture for us at Showtime and we're on
our way to completing the entire saga of all six wives of Henry VIII,"
said Showtime’s president of entertainment, Robert Greenblatt. "We are
enormously proud of this show, the extraordinary cast, and the production team
that recreates the grandeur of the Renaissance year in and year out. There is
nothing like this anywhere on American television."

—By Kristin
Brzoznowski