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Blade gets Spiked!
Spike TV has ordered a two-hour TV movie based on Wesley Snipes' blockbuster vampire franchise that will serve as a launching pad for a full-blooded tube series. |
Spike TV has ordered a two-hour TV movie based on Wesley Snipes' blockbuster vampire franchise that will serve as a launching pad for a full-blooded tube series.
The testosterone-fueled Viacom-owned, which has been struggling to come up with a flagship show, hopes a successful Blade telefilm will evolve into a sort of macho version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, appealing both to fanboys and a wider audience.
"The action-adventure genre is largely ignored in today's television landscape, and we know it is something that our male viewers really want," Doug Herzog, president of Spike TV, said in a statement. "Blade is a great movie franchise with an established brand that men already recognize and identify with."
David Goyer, who wrote the screenplays for all three Blade films--1998's Blade, 2002's Blade II and 2004's Blade: Trinity (which he also directed)--will serve as executive producer on the project.
But don't expect to see Snipes staking out a role.
The thespian who portrayed the titular half-man, half-vampire bad-ass hero, is suing New Line Cinema and Goyer for $5 million, accusing them of breach of contract.
Snipes' suit contends that not only was he not given final approval over the script and director of Blade: Trinity as promised in his contract, but that the studio still owes him $3.6 million of the $13 million the actor was supposed to get up front for fighting the bloodsuckers one more time.
The first Blade film was an unqualified success, with $70 million in domestic ticket sales and a hit DVD. Blade II fared even better, raking in $81 million. However, the series stumbled earlier this year with the final installment. Budgeted at $65 million, Blade: Trinity took in a disappointing $52 million.
The Blade TV movie will premiere on Spike TV in early 2006.
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