Five classic fairy tales are getting a modern make-over courtesy of the SyFy channel as part of the network’s Saturday-night television movie fare. SyFy’s Executive Vice President of Programming and Original Movies, Thomas Vitale talks about how these movies fit into the SyFy branding strategy:
“It’s exciting to take a treasured brand and put our own sideways spin on it. By turning familiar timeless stories inside out, we’re creating an entertaining new genre for our popular Saturday night movie franchise.”
Among the classic fairy tales to be re-made are “Beauty and the Beast”, “Little Red Riding Hood”, “Hansel and Gretel”, the voyages of “Sinbad”, and “Aladdin”. Check out the description of SyFy’s take on these five tales plus one genre spin-off:
Beauty and the Beast– a young Beauty (Estella Warren of “Planet of the Apes”) with a gift for healing helps a deformed Prince (Rhett Gilles of SyFy’s “Wraiths of Roanoke”) regain his throne and defeat the ruthless nobleman who wants to be king — and then together they try to destroy a power-hungry witch. “Beauty and the Beast” was directed by David Lister and written by Gavin Scott.
Red — A young woman who is a descendant of the real Little Red Riding Hood brings her fiancé home, where he meets the family and learns about their business – hunting werewolves. He’s skeptical until bitten by a werewolf. When her family insists he must be killed, Red tries saving him.
Hansel – Twenty years after his encounter with the witch, a grown-up Hansel returns to the haunted forest, seeking revenge. But there’s a surprise waiting – his sister Gretel (who he thought had been killed) is the witch’s protégée.
8TH Voyage of Sinbad — Sinbad searches for the golden head of the long lost Colossus of Rhodes and, instead, discovers an island where the mythical Minotaur still rules, protecting a vast treasure. Sinbad and his crew have to battle the creature and its minions to get the treasure and save their own lives.
Aladdin (working title) — After accidentally releasing an evil genie from an ancient lamp, Aladdin must find a way to imprison the genie again before it wreaks havoc on the world.
Black Forest – A group of naïve tourists take a sightseeing tour into a supposed enchanted forest, where they encounter evil creatures from the world of fantasy. Trapped in the Black Forest, their only hope of survival is fighting their way out.
SyFy’s Saturday night made-for-television movies are typically international co-productions and shot on 35mm film, costing around $2 million. About ten indie studios work with SyFy to produce and distribute these movies. SyFy airs its original movies twice a month to an average audience of 1.8 million viewers.
Look for the first SyFy modernization of “Beauty and the Beast”, Saturday, February 27th at 9pm ET.
[Source] SyFy
