Indie producer Take 5 Productions is to coproduce The Borgias for Showtime, the successor to The Tudors for the U.S. pay channel.

John Weber, the former president of Dufferin Gate Productions and now head of Toronto-based Take 5, will coproduce 10 episodes of the historical series which, like The Tudors, will be structured as a Canadian/European coproduction.

Showtime ordered the episodes for a summer 2010 shoot, to debut in 2011. The series is named for the powerful family of the Italian Renaissance.

Weber earlier acquired the fourth season rights to The Tudors from Peace Arch Entertainment, which comprised 10 one-hour episodes.

Weber’s exit from Dufferin Gate came before Peace Arch recently put its Dufferin Gate Toronto studio up for sale with a $3.95 million price tag.

Like The Tudors, The Borgias will be shot in Europe and posted in Toronto.

During the 1990s, Dufferin Gate hosted a raft of TV movies and other productions for Showtime when the studio was under then-controlling shareholder Patrick Whitley.

Colm Feore is close to signing to star in The Borgias as Cardinal Giuliano Della Rovere, the archrival to Rodrigo Borgia, the head of the family to be played by Jeremy Irons.

Michael Hirst, who created, wrote and produced The Tudors, will team with director Neil Jordan to serve as head writer for The Borgias.

______________________________ This story has been corrected. Take 5 is based in Toronto, not Burlington as originally reported.