‘Blood & Treasure’ charts a course for adventure

By Taylor Neumann NTVB Media

6 years ago

"The Curse of Cleopatra - Parts I and II" -- "The Curse of Cleopatra - Parts I a ... — "The Curse of Cleopatra – Parts I and II" — "The Curse of Cleopatra – Parts I and II" – Matt Barr and Sofia Pernas star as a brilliant antiquities expert and a cunning art thief who team up to catch a ruthless terrorist who funds his attacks through stolen treasure, on the special two-hour premiere of BLOOD & TREASURE, Tuesday, May 21 (8:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Pictured (L-R) Matt Barr as Danny McNamara and Sofia Pernas as Lexi Vaziri Photo: Kimberly Ross/CBS ÃÂ©2018 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved

CBS’ new summer drama “Blood & Treasure” feels cinematic in scope, like “National Treasure,” “Mission: Impossible” and a Disneyland ride all wrapped up in one.

The 13-episode series begins Tuesday and follows the adventures of a treasure-seeking duo — played by Matt Barr (“Valor”) and Sofia Pernas (“The Brave”) — as they race around the world chasing down blood antiquities while trying to navigate their troubled romance.

“It’s a fun romp of a heist/treasure hunt show with stakes in real-world politics,” executive producer Taylor Elmore says. “It’s an entertaining-for-the-whole-family kind of show.”

Executive producer Stephen Scaia adds: “It’s a big, fun, explosive action-adventure — everything you want from a treasure-hunter show. There’s flashbacks to Nazis and bars of gold and pirates.

“But then there’s also a really great modern story that’s with our characters. As the season goes on, we collect more and more people until, by the end of the season, we’ve got kind of a treasure squad of characters that are all helping to solve the final mystery of the show.”

The series was inspired by the “Indiana Jones” films and “Romancing the Stone” — the sort of movies you don’t see being made today, let alone adapted into a TV series.

“Blood & Treasure” takes place all over the globe, but filming was able to keep the locations to just the essentials — Montreal (which doubles for much of Europe), Italy and Morocco (for Africa, Spain, Cuba and the Caribbean).

“We literally did three continents all over the world and came back, and it really shows. It’s all on the screen,” Elmore says. “It’s so fun to watch. ‘Oh, my God, that’s the Colosseum. They’re playing baseball in front of it.’ That was really exciting.”

But viewers shouldn’t expect the show to take itself too seriously, Elmore adds. “Just when things start to get too intense, it gets funny again and gives you a chance to breathe.”