'SCI FI SATURDAY: THE MOST DANGEROUS NIGHT OF TELEVISION' LAUNCHES IN JANUARY 2007
Slate of New Films Announced
SCIFI.com Announces Casting Call for "Die-On" and "Scream-On" Roles
PASADENA, Calif. � January 12, 2007 - SCI FI's Saturday night movies get an extra shot of adrenaline in January 2007 when the Channel launches SCI FI Saturday: The Most Dangerous Night of Television, an entertaining new branding campaign. The Most Dangerous Night of Television enlivens SCI FI's popular 9pm Saturday movies with an amusing take on the wild action and intensity that has become a staple of the Channel's date night thrillers. In addition, Thomas Vitale, Senior Vice President of Programming and Original Movies at SCI FI has added two movies to the 2007 production slate and greenlit another three films for development:
To Premiere in 2007:
The Lost Colony: The age-old mystery surrounding the lost colony of Roanoke is revealed in this adventure soaked original starring Adrian Paul (Highlander) and produced with American World Pictures.
King Arthur & The Order of the Dragon: Produced with Pliny Minor (Who Killed the Electric Car?) and written by Tim Cox and Brook Durham, the duo behind 2006's SCI FI Saturday standout Mammoth, this tale ignites a battle befitting the legendary Knights of the Round Table � a quest for the Holy Grail! A pursuit for the ages, the Knights must battle a formidable spider-dragon on the treacherous path to the Grail.
Greenlit for Development:
Riddle of the Sphinx: An astronomer and a cryptographer uncover a series of ancient tunnels, unwittingly unleashing a deadly Sphinx. In order to trap the Sphinx back in its tomb and stop impending destruction, our explorers must solve a series of complicated and possibly deadly riddles. Pliny Minor will produce.
Sherlock Holmes & The Banshee: Sherlock Holmes investigates a wailing, soul-sucking ghost that turns out to be a banshee in this Pliny Minor produced film. Will Holmes be clever enough to find out the beasts secrets and stop its terrifying reign?
Odysseus & The Isle of Mists: In this mythical melee, Odysseus and his men battle Persephone and her deadly vampire beasts. As the premise for this Pliny Minor film goes, a vampire origin tale is the lost passage from Winslow Homer's writings.
Pure escapist entertainment, SCI FI Saturday movies pay homage to the early science fiction drive-in thrillers, while pushing the limits of imagination in a way only SCI FI can. These high-octane, thrill-a-minute original action flicks have become a perennial favorite and are responsible for attracting a sizable new audience. In the third quarter of 2006, Saturday movies brought in 4 million new viewers to the Channel. In addition to fantasy epics, creature features, disaster flicks and creative re-imaginings of other science fiction genre classics, SCI FI is committed to developing sequels to popular theatrical franchises such as the Species and Pumpkinhead films, Lake Placid and Bats.
"SCI FI Saturday movies have established a popular following at the same time that theatrical franchises like The Grudge and Saw expose even broader audiences to modern genre filmmaking," said Thomas Vitale. "The Most Dangerous Night of Television lets viewers know there's a tune-in destination for popular action-packed entertainment that pushes the envelope on contemporary escapist films."
To kick off the branding campaign, three new on-air spots will debut on SCI FI in January 2007. Echoing the refrain, "I hate Saturday nights," MDs, RNs and shell-shocked emergency medical technicians recount the evening's events -- an array of alien births, solar burns, mythological animal attacks and other outrageous trauma cases. SCI FI Saturday will be supported by additional messaging -The Saturday Survival Guide - a series of on-air interstitials for adventurers who mean to survive The Most Dangerous Night of Television and other ongoing episodic spots.
SCIFI.com Holds Viewer Casting Calls:
Adding an interactive consumer element, SCIFI.com invites viewers to enter (at their own risk) for a chance to win a "scream-on" or "die-on" role in an upcoming SCI FI original thriller. Winners can scream their lungs out or, conversely, play dead for the camera. Movie fans can also visit SCIFI.com to submit their own "Survival Tips," inspired by the films they watch, and their own personal hair-raising experiences. SCI FI.com will further engage viewers with text polling and other movie-related trivia.
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.
|