Spike TV Puts a Stake Into Scripted TV With June 28th Premiere of 'Blade: The Series' Based on Marvel's Renowned Super Hero

New Weekly Action-Adventure/Drama Stars Kirk 'Sticky' Jones as Blade Based on Marvel Super Hero, Produced by New Line Television, Executive Produced by David Goyer

NEW YORK, May 16 -- "Blade: The Series," Spike TV's first original scripted action-adventure/drama fare, premieres on Wednesday, June 28 (10 PM - midnight, ET/PT) with Kirk "Sticky" Jones in the title role of Marvel's immortal half-man, half-vampire who uses his superhuman powers and skills to fearlessly battles the demonic creatures of the night in a blood- drenched crusade to prevent their rise over mankind.

"Blade: The Series" maintains the continuity from New Line Cinema/Marvel Studio's highly successful movie trilogy, but brings the main character into new storylines and characters. The two-hour premiere opens with Blade (Jones) setting up shop in Detroit, investigating the vampire House of Chthon. Along the way, he forms an uneasy alliance with Krista Starr (Jill Wagner), a former military veteran who becomes entrenched in the world of vampires while investigating the murder of her twin brother.

In addition to Jones and Wagner, the series also features Neil Jackson as "Marcus," Blade's chief nemesis and head of the Chthon House; Jessica Gower as "Chase," a seductive vampire who is devoted to Marcus; and Nelson Lee as Shen, a technology genius and Blade's confidante.

Acclaimed screenwriter David Goyer ("Blade" trilogy and "Batman Begins") and popular comic book writer Geoff Johns serve as Executive Producer and Producer of the series, respectively. David Simkins serves as Executive Producer. Peter O'Fallon ("Suicide Kings," "American Gothic") directed the premiere episode.

The weekly series launches with the two-hour premiere on June 28, (10:00 PM - Midnight, ET/PT) with 11 one-hour subsequent episodes to begin airing Wednesday, July 5 (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT), encore presentations of the series will telecast on Wednesdays (11:00 PM, ET/PT), Sundays (2:00 AM, ET/PT), and Mondays (10:00 PM, ET/PT).

Bill McGoldrick, Vice President, Original Programming and Lisa Ullmann, Director of Original Programming, are executives in charge of production at Spike TV. Jim Rosenthal and Jon Kroll of New Line Television, Avi Arad, Chairman and CEO of Marvel Studios, Ari Arad, Executive Vice President, Marvel Studios, David Goyer (Blade films, Batman Begins), David Simkins (Charmed, Roswell, Dark Angel), serve as executive producers.

New Line Television is a division of New Line Cinema (http://www.newline.com), the most successful independent film company in the world. The division develops, produces and distributes TV projects for the broadcast networks, cable and first-run syndication, as well as distributes New Line feature films across the television landscape. In addition to the production, marketing and distribution of theatrical motion pictures, New Line Cinema has divisions devoted to home entertainment, music, theater, merchandising and international. A pioneer in franchise filmmaking, New Line's Oscar-winning "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy is one of the most successful film franchises in history. New Line is a division of Time Warner, Inc.

With a library of over 5,000 characters, Marvel Entertainment, Inc. is one of the world's most prominent character-based entertainment companies. Marvel's operations are focused on utilizing its character franchises in licensing, entertainment, publishing and toys. Areas of emphasis include feature films, DVD/home video, consumer products, video games, action figures and role-playing toys, television and promotions. Rooted in the creative success of over sixty years of comic book publishing, Marvel's strategy is to leverage its character franchises in a growing array of opportunities around the world. More information about Marvel can be found at http://www.marvel.com.

Spike TV is available in more than 90 million homes and is a division of MTV Networks. A unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), MTV Networks is one of the world's leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms.

Marvel, Blade and related characters names and the distinctive likenesses thereof are trademarks of Marvel Characters, Inc. TM & (C) 2006 Marvel Characters, Inc. All rights reserved. Super Hero(es) is a co-owned registered trademark.

SOURCE Spike TV
Web Site: http://www.spiketv.com http://www.newline.com http://www.marvel.com