SciFi Channel Press Release # 3

Business Wire
April 2, 2002, Tuesday 01:04 PM Eastern Time
SECTION: ENTERTAINMENTWIRE
DISTRIBUTION: Entertainment Editors
LENGTH: 1264 words

HEADLINE: SCI FI Channel Announces Ambitious New Slate of Original Movies and
Miniseries

DATELINE: April 2, 2002

BODY:
SCI FI Continues to Strengthen Its Primetime Line-Up With Exclusive Original
Movie Events and Miniseries

"Firestarter: Rekindled" To Be Developed As Ongoing Series

Anchored by its upcoming 20-hour epic miniseries Taken from DreamWorks Television and Steven Spielberg, SCI FI Channel continues to strengthen its original programming line-up with an ambitious new slate of primetime miniseries and movies.

Beginning in 2003, SCI FI will air four major movie or miniseries events a year, many of which may serve as backdoor pilots for ongoing series.

In keeping with this strategy and hot off the success of its recent Firestarter: Rekindled hit miniseries, SCI FI Channel will re-ignite the Stephen King classic by developing it as an ongoing series. Rekindled will follow the struggles and adventures of Charlie McGee, a young woman with incredible pyrokinetic abilities. Both gifted and cursed with the ability to start fires with her mind, Charlie has spent the past 10 years on the run from the unscrupulous government agents who created her. Tired of running, she decides to search out other victims of the government's experiments in the hopes of helping them reclaim their lives. New miniseries and movies in development at SCI FI include:

ORIGINAL MINISERIES

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (4-hour miniseries) - SCI FI re-imagines the groundbreaking and beloved series in which "a rag, tag fugitive fleet" of the last remnants of mankind searches for its true home. Fleeing the aliens responsible for the slaughter of their homeworld, the Battlestar Galactica survivors must meet a whole new set of challenges. This intriguing twist on a classic will be written by writer Ronald D. Moore (Roswell, Mission Impossible II) with Breck Eisner (Steven Spielberg's Taken; The Invisible Man) attached to direct. Distributed by USA Cable Entertainment, the project will be executive produced by David Eick (American Gothic, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Spy Game).

MYST (4-hour miniseries) - Inspired by the best-selling CD-ROM adventure game of all time, this four-hour SCI FI miniseries sends us on a journey to discover what really happened on the island of Myst. Along the way, we uncover an ancient civilization that existed for thousands of years beneath the surface of the Earth--a civilization that created magical books allowing one to travel to other worlds or Ages. Using these "linking" books in MYST, characters defy the boundaries of space and get entangled in the intrigue and mystery of undiscovered worlds. MYST will be a Mandalay Television Pictures production for SCI FI, executive produced by Elizabeth Stephen with Rand Miller and Susan Bonds of Cyan in association with Columbia Tri Star Domestic Television.

THE FOREVER WAR (4-hour miniseries) - Based on Joe Haldeman's Hugo & Nebula award-winning classic, this four-hour miniseries is an epic love story that spans a 1000-year war. In the near future, a young man enlists in the army to defend Earth against a far-off alien threat. Almost immediately, he meets a young woman and they fall in love during their first tour of duty, but time and space separate them. However, across the abyss of time she's left him a trail that leads to a sweepingly emotional Sleeping Beauty-like ending. The miniseries will be executive produced by Richard Edlund (7 Oscars for FX including Star Wars, Poltergeist, Raiders of the Lost, Return of the Jedi), with Peter Sussman and Ed Gernon (Joan of Arc, Nuremberg, Me and My Shadows: Life with Judy Garland) executive producing for indie powerhouse Alliance Atlantis. THE FOREVER WAR will be written by John Fasano (Alien 3, Universal Soldier, Tombstone).

THE CHRONICLES OF AMBER (4-hour miniseries) - Based on award-winning writer Roger Zelazny's (Lord of the Light, Creatures of Light and Darkness, Home is the Hangman, A Rose For Ecclesiastes) classic international-best selling 10 volume "Chronicles of Amber" series (over 3 1/2 million copies worldwide have been translated into ten languages), this is the story of a royal family with amazing powers over time and space who are plagued by infighting as they try to unite against a sinister enemy. Corwin is a prince of Amber, the "immortal city from which every other city has taken its shape." He has spent centuries on Earth as an amnesiac but when someone in the family tries to kill him, Corwin begins a search for his past. Richard Christian Matheson (Sole Survivor) will adapt the screenplay for SCI FI. Tom Patricia (First Shot, King of the World: The Muhammad Ali Story, Intensity, Medusa's Child, The Linda McCartney Story) of Patriarch Pictures will serve as executive producer.

ON THE SEVENTH DAY (7-hour limited series) - The year is 2850 A.D. or 714 CP (Cryogenic Period) as time is now measured. To cure overcrowding, a world government has turned to artificial intelligence and divided the population into the seven days of the week with individuals assigned to "live" out their life on the same day each week. They are kept in cryogenic suspension the other six. When Rick, a Tuesday, discovers the truth after accidentally meeting Andrea, a Monday, he defies the system and attempts to see her again. His journey leads him to discover not only that every day is completely different, but that the corrupt group that occupies Sunday is about to take over the entire planet. Gary Sherman (The Glow, First Wave, Poltergeist: The Legacy) will executive produce and write this original limited SCI FI series to be distributed through USA Cable Entertainment.

ORIGINAL MOVIES

COLOSSEUM (2-hour original movie) - Tommy Pettigrew, a fast-talking African-American fight promoter from New York, can't talk his way out of his latest crisis - until history suddenly intervenes. With the help from a rip in time and a magic amulet, he's transported to a world of action, excitement and romance - the Colosseum of Rome 95 AD. He's a Brooklyn Yankee in Emperor Nero's court, playing out many of the issues that plague us today - sports, politics, greed, sex and power - in the most spectacular arena the world has ever known! This action-adventure dramedy will be written by Sam Egan ("The Outer Limits," "Jeremiah," "Northern Exposure") and directed by Mario Azzipardi ("The Outer Limits," "Poltergeist," "Stargate:SG1," "Total Recall," "The Highlander"). Egan and Azzipardi will Executive Produce with Matt Loze, co-founder of the multi platform branded entertainment and marketing company, Science + Fiction. Colosseum, now in development for SCI FI, will be distributed by USA Cable Entertainment.

Previously announced miniseries in development for SCI FI include Ursula Le Guin's Left Hand of Darkness and Earthsea Trilogy and Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars. Original movies include a sci-fi version of the classic A Tale of Two Cities, Ray Bradbury's Illustrated Man and Clive Barker's Saint Sinner. On December 17, USA Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: USAI) and Vivendi Universal announced the creation of Vivendi Universal Entertainment (VUE), a joint venture that combines the assets of the USA Entertainment Group, including SCI FI Channel, and the Universal Studios Group.

SCI FI Channel, owned and operated by USA Cable, a division of USA Networks, Inc.'s Entertainment Group,  transmits fantastic images to 78 million human homes. Launched in 1992, SCI FI features a continuous stream of cinematic hits, new and original series, and special events, as well as classic sci-fi, fantasy, and horror programming. Check out SCIFI.COM(R), the SCI FI Channel's award-winning Web site, at www.scifi.com.

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