Riverworld, The Phantom, Alice Coming to SCI FI
March 23, 2009 by Cynthia
SCI FI Channel is working on a couple of new mini-series, two of which will operate as backdoor pilots.
First up will be Alice, a modern telling of the Lewis Carroll story Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The four-hour movie is being written and directed by Nick Willing who was behind the Emmy-nominated miniseries Tin Man. The movie will begin shooting in Vancouver in May to air late 2009.
Next up is Riverworld, a two-night event based on the series of novels by Philip Jose Farmer.
It’s the adventure of Matt, a combat photojournalist, killed along with his fiancée by a suicide bomber, who awakens in a mysterious world where everyone who has ever previously lived on Earth, has been “reborn” along the banks of a seemingly endless river. Determined to locate his lost love Jessica, Matt joins forces, a 13th century female samurai warrior named Tomoe and American novelist Mark Twain. Together they sail upriver in search of its source, and to discover where they are and who put them there.
The movie is due out sometime in 2010.
Also in 2010 is a re-imagining of the comic book The Phantom. Says the press release, “The Phantom relies on his wits, physical strength and skill with weapons over superhuman powers.” This live-action, four-hour mini comes from Dan Knauf of Carnivale and will begin filming in Montreal in April.
Riverworld book cover from Amazon.com
SciFi already tried to do Riverworld and screwed it up royally. I came across like it was written by someone who’d never even read the original novel. This sounds like more of the same.
It absolutely agree. The director did not read this novel.