After their success in retelling The Wizard of Oz with Tin Man in 2007 and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass with last year’s Alice, Syfy is looking to continue re-imagining well known fairy tales and legends in a new series of Saturday movies. What’s interesting is that these are not all just simple reinterpretations of classic stories, but some of the movies are sequels or extrapolations of what might have happened after the story ended or to the descendants of the original characters. Check out all the details from Syfy below and plan your Saturday night viewing accordingly. Might we humbly suggest you watch these with a few friends and discuss them afterwards.
Syfy announced today it is adding a new Saturday Original Movies genre to its popular mix, re-imagining classic fairy tales, legends and pop culture characters — from Little Red Riding Hood, Aladdin and Sinbad the Sailor to Hansel and Gretel — beginning with the premiere of Beauty and the Beast on Saturday, February 27, at 9PM (ET/PM).
Starring Estella Warren (Planet of the Apes), Beauty and the Beast is not the traditional Disney fairy tale. In this gritty celebration of Valentine’s Day, a young Beauty (Warren) with a gift for healing helps a deformed Prince (Rhett Gilles, 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.
Said Thomas Vitale, Executive Vice President, Programming and Original Movies, Syfy: “By turning familiar timeless stories inside out — like retelling Little Red Riding Hood as a werewolf tale or envisioning a dark version of Shrek — we’re creating an entertaining new genre for our popular Saturday night movie franchise, which has become the television destination for fans of action-packed independent sci-fi, horror and fantasy films.”
During 2009, the 22 Syfy Saturday Original Movies averaged nearly two million total viewers (1.8 million) across the channel’s twice-monthly original presentations. Syfy is one of television’s most prolific producers of original movies.
Vitale also announced a preliminary development slate for the new line of Syfy Original Movies including:
o 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.
o 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.
o 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.
o 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.
o 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.
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On February 1, 2010, Jayson Peters said:
Disappointing, as always – BUT I have to say that Red and Hansel sound strangely awesome …