Sam Raimi has got to be one of the busiest guys in Hollywood. Not only does the Spider-Man director have 18 projects coming out in the next few years, he’s also jumping into the TV fray.
Raimi is teaming with Disney and ABC Studios on a new first-run, live-action weekly series titled Wizard’s First Rule. Based on Terry Goodkind’s best-selling epic fantasy series, “The Sword of Truth,” the syndicated show is being targeted for a fall 2008 launch, according to a Hollywood Reporter story.
The series follows the extraordinary transformation of woodsman Richard Cypher into a magical leader who joins with a mysterious woman to stop a bloodthirsty tyrant. "Wizard's First Rule," Goodkind's first installment in the "Sword of Truth" series, was published in 1994, followed by 10 additional titles.
Raimi is executive producing the 60-minute series with Robert Tapert (The Grudge), Joshua Donen (The Quick and the Dead) and Xena: Warrior Princess production executive Ned Nalle. Disney-ABC Domestic TV is distributing, and ABC Studios is producing. No word on a cast yet.
To say Raimi is excited about the series would be a gross understatement. He calls Goodkind a "brilliant author" and said he's a big fan of the books, which he read with his family.
"In discussing these incredible story lines and rich characters with my friends and partners Robert Tapert and Josh Donen, we agreed that Wizard's First Rule would make an amazing television series -- one that could be produced with compelling, self-contained episodes," Raimi said.
Production on 22 episodes is slated to begin in May. Wizard's marks ABC Studios' first venture into broadcast syndication. It also marks the return of the weekly syndicated fantasy series genre, which had disappeared following its heyday in the late 1990s with Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena.
Any thoughts on a dream cast?
