SCI FI CHANNEL SET TO PREMIERE 4-HOUR ORIGINAL MINISERIES 'DARK KINGDOM: THE DRAGON KING' MARCH 27-28, 2006

EPIC TALE THAT INSPIRED TOLKIEN'S 'LORD OF THE RINGS' TRILOGY STARS KRISTANNA LOKEN, MAX VON SYDOW, ALICIA WITT AND JULIAN SANDS

NEW YORK -- January 9, 2006 -- SCI FI Channel will premiere the original 2-part, 4-hour hour fantasy/adventure miniseries 'Dark Kingdom: The Dragon King' on Monday, March 27 (Part I) and Tuesday, March 28 (Part II) at 9PM ET/PT, it was announced today by Thomas Vitale, SCI FI Channel's Senior Vice President of Programming and Original Movies. The film was licensed exclusively to SCI FI for broadcast in the U.S. via Debmar-Mercury and its principals Mort Marcus and Ira Bernstein.

"Dark Kingdom is action-packed, visually stunning film with an epic love story at its heart," said Thomas Vitale. "The scope and scale of this fantastical miniseries will make it one of the highlights of our channel's 2006 programming slate."

'Dark Kingdom: The Dragon King' features a stellar cast including Julian Sands ('Leaving Las Vegas,' 'A Room With A View'), Kristanna Loken ('Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines'), Alicia Witt ('The Upside of Anger,' 'Vanilla Sky'), Samuel West ('Van Helsing,' 'Iris'), Robert Pattinson ('Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire'), and Max Von Sydow ('The Exorcist').

'Dark Kingdom' is a dramatic re-telling of a German myth (the story which inspired J.R.R. Tolkien's 'Lord of the Rings'). In the action/adventure, fantasy love story, Eric (Benno Furmann) is a young blacksmith who is unaware that his true identity is actually Siegfried, the orphaned heir to a conquered kingdom. When a comet impacts the earth, it sets off a chain of events setting Eric on the path to his true destiny. His adventure begins with a chance encounter with his true love, the Norse warrior Queen Brunhild (Loken). Next he becomes a hero to the Burgunds after slays the much-feared dragon Fafnir. His reward for which is an ancient treasure trove the beast had long protected ? the treasure of the Nibelungs. Eric ignores warnings of a curse placed on the treasure, an act that ultimately endangers his love for Brunhild and the reclaiming of his birthright.

"Through a longstanding relationship with Rola Bauer and Tim Halkin at Tandem Communications, we were able to secure the rights to 'Dark Kingdom,' which was the #1 rated TV film in Germany last year," said Ira Bernstein. "We are thrilled that SCI FI seized the opportunity to present this incredible production to its sizable audience. Tandem spared no expense in bringing the rich fantasy world of Dark Kingdom vividly to life in high-definition," said Mort Marcus.

'Dark Kingdom: The Dragon King' is a Tandem Communications/VIP Medienfonds 2/VIP Medienfonds 3 Production in association with Channel 4, Sat.1 Television and Uncharted Territory, a German/South African/UK/Italian co-production with Castlering Pictures (PTY) Ltd., The Ring (UK) Ltd. and Octave s.r.l. Executive Producers are Tim Halkin and Andreas Grosch; Producers are Rola Bauer and Andreas Schmid. The miniseries was written by Diane Duane, Peter Morwood and Uli Edel and directed by Uli Edel.

Debmar-Mercury is a worldwide production and distribution media company specializing in network, cable, syndication, VOD/Pay-Per-View and Pay TV. Debmar-Mercury owns the distribution rights to the country's fastest growing off-net sitcom, 'South Park,' and an extensive movie library featuring titles from Revolution Studios. The company also licenses the Sci Fi Channel's hit series 'Farscape,' USA Network's 'The Dead Zone,' Lion's Gate films, and National Geographic's 'Really Wild Animals.'

SCI FI Channel is a television network where "what if" is what's on. SCI FI fuels the imagination of viewers with original series and events, blockbuster movies and classic science fiction and fantasy programming, as well as a dynamic Web site (www.scifi.com) and magazine. Launched in 1992, and currently in 85 million homes, SCI FI Channel is a network of NBC Universal, one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies.