SCI FI REINVENTS ADVENTURE CLASSIC 'FLASH GORDON'
RHI Entertainment Series Debuts In July 2007
PASADENA, Calif. � January 12, 2007 � SCI FI Channel has greenlit production on FLASH GORDON, based on the popular comic strip franchise, it was announced today at the Television Critic's Association tour. Production on the 22 one-hour episodes begins in Canada in early 2007. The series, produced by Reunion Pictures, is slated to debut on SCI FI in July of '07, with a broadcast syndication window to follow.
Under an agreement with property owner King Features Syndicate, the new series is being produced by RHI's Robert Halmi, Sr. and Robert Halmi, Jr. (Tin Man, Mitch Albom's The Five People You Meet in Heaven, The Ten Commandments), who previously produced SCI FI's popular miniseries event Legend of Earthsea.
Ming, Dale Arden, and Dr. Hans Zarkov are among the many beloved characters returning to television in this contemporary retelling of the intergalactic exploits of FLASH GORDON. Stellar adventures and heroic battles mark this inventive new take on the perennial science fiction classic. The FLASH GORDON comic strip was created in 1934 by legendary comic-strip artist Alex Raymond and is still distributed internationally today by King Features Syndicate.
RHI Entertainment, LLC is a global leader in the production and distribution of groundbreaking miniseries and movies for television. Since the company's inception, under the guidance of Robert Halmi, Sr. and Robert Halmi, Jr., RHI has produced and distributed over 4,000 hours of quality television programming, received 104 Emmy Awards and outperformed the competition annually in viewer ratings. Currently, RHI provides 40-60 new television movies and miniseries a year to networks worldwide.
King Features Syndicate is a member of Hearst Entertainment and Syndication Group, which combines The Hearst Corporation's cable network partnerships, television programming activities, and newspaper syndication and merchandise licensing operations. King Features is the world's premier distributor of comics, columns, editorial cartoons, puzzles and games, distributing some 150 features to nearly 5,000 newspapers around the globe. It is one of the largest and most experienced organizations in merchandising licensing. Among its most beloved and successful classic characters are "Popeye," "Betty Boop," "Blondie" and "Dennis the Menace." In recent years, the company has diversified and now represents properties such as the trendy apparel and accessory brands, David & Goliath, the publicly displayed, life-size art sculptures GuitarMania and The Trail of Painted Ponies; the conscientious-living brand, "Mutts," and SeeMore's Playhouse, the new children's series for public television.
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 86 million homes, SCI FI Channel is a network of NBC Universal, one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies.
FLASH GORDON � 2007 King Features Syndicate. TM Hearst Holdings, Inc.
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