On last week’s Slice of SciFi, we brought you news that SciFi has optioned three new miniseries–a new look at Alice in Wonderland, “Riverworld” and a reboot of the Phantom. At the time of our report, we didn’t know who would be cast in the upcoming miniseries from SciFi and RHI Entertainment.
SciFi announced earlier this week some of the casting choices for two of the mini-series.
Tahmoh Penikett and Laura Vandervort have been cast as the leads for the “Riverworld” mini-series. Penikett will play Matt Ellman, an American war reporter who has witnessed the worst of humanity first-hand, yet still retains an optimistic spirit. When a suicide bomber kills both Matt and his fiancee, Jessie, played by Vandervoort, they awaken, separated, in a mysterious world where everyone who has ever lived on Earth, seems to have been “reborn” along the banks of a seemingly endless river.
Determined to locate Jessie, Matt joins forces with a 13th century female samurai warrior named Tomoe (Jeananne Goossen) and American novelist Sam “Mark Twain” Clemens (Mark Deklin).
Together they sail upriver in search of its source and to discover where they are and who put them there. Alan Cumming (Tin Man) guest-stars as the mysterious Caretaker.
Riverworld is set to air in 2010 and is produced by Reunion Pictures. The series is based on the novels by Phillip Jose Farmer.
In other casting news, the lead role in the Phantom reboot has been filled. Ryan Carnes has been cast as the superhero and his alter ego, Chris Walker.
Both “The Phantom” and “Riverworld” will serve as potential pilots for new series.
Two properties I really like . . . in the hands of the STD channel . . . I don’t think my expectation bar goes that low.
Of the two, I hope for Phantom to be good. I like the comics (both new and classic), but really it seems it would be near impossible to do it well set in current times. Perhaps an alternate world . . . perhaps a Watchmen world. Perhaps the Phantom and Rorschach as crime fighting allies.
Throw in Marv from Sin City, and I’m all over it.
Both Phantom and Riverworld have been done as a movie and TV mini-series, repsectively. Neither was too successful. Hopefully, Syphilis has learned from their mistakes on Riverworld.
But I’m not holding my breath.