Spike TV Orders Blade TV Pilot from New Line Television
Spike TV will adapt the successful theatrical franchise, BLADE, based on the cult favorite Marvel superhero, as a two-hour, action/adventure television movie in early 2006.
"The action-adventure genre is largely ignored in today's television landscape, and we know it is something that our male viewers really want," said Spike TV president Doug Herzog. "BLADE is a great movie franchise with an established brand that men already recognize and identify with."
Half man and half vampire, Blade is immortal warrior who battles a thriving underworld of vampires seeking to decimate the human race. Blade uses his fierce powers and skills to fearlessly battle the demonic creatures of the night and carry on a blood-drenched crusade to prevent the vampires from taking over mankind. The blockbuster film starred actor Wesley Snipes and spawned two sequels that, combined, have earned more than $400 million worldwide.
BLADE will be produced by New Line Television and Marvel Studios. David Goyer is onboard as exec producer. He penned the three screenplays for the BLADE trilogy, as well as produced and directed the last installment of the franchise, BLADE: TRINITY.
With a library of more than 5,000 proprietary characters, Marvel Enterprises Inc. is one of the world's most prominent character-based entertainment companies. Marvel's operations are focused in four areas: entertainment (Marvel Studios), licensing, publishing and toys (Toy Biz). Marvel facilitates the creation of entertainment projects, including feature films, DVD/home video, videogames and television based on its characters and also licenses its characters for use in a wide range of consumer products and services including apparel, toys, collectibles, snack foods and promotions. Marvel's characters and plotlines are created by its publishing division, which continues to expand its leadership position in the U.S. and worldwide while also serving as an invaluable source of intellectual property.
New Line Television (www.newline.com/) is a division of New Line Cinema, the leading independent producer and distributor of theatrical motion pictures. The division is responsible for the development, production and distribution of television projects for the broadcast networks, cable and first-run syndication, as well as the distribution of New Line feature films across the television landscape. New Line Cinema is a Time Warner Co.
Spike TV, the first network for men, is available in 87 million homes and is a division of MTV Networks, which is a division of Viacom International Inc.