Offical Press Release
FIREWORKS ENTERTAINMENT'S 'MUTANT X' SET TO LAUNCH ON GLOBAL TELEVISION NETWORK ON OCTOBER 20, 2001
John Shea Leads Ensemble Cast of Exciting New Weekly Action Hour
MUTANT X, the eagerly anticipated new action drama, is set to launch in Canada on the Global Television Network on October 20th, 2001 at 10:00pm (ET). Produced by Fireworks Entertainment in association with Tribune Entertainment and Marvel Studios, the series stars an ensemble cast led by Emmy Award winner John Shea (Baby M, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman), the weekly one-hour series chronicles the adventures of a group of human mutants possessing extraordinary powers as a result of genetic experimentation gone awry.
Filled with action, suspense and state-of-the-art visual effects, MUTANT X is set in contemporary America and opens with the revelation that a covert branch of U.S. intelligence has been secretly sponsoring a human genetics program for years. The front for this operation is Genomex, a biotech firm that serves as a cover for the Genetic Security Agency. A few hundred men and women have been the unwitting subjects of the program's experiments and they are discovering that genetic mutation has given them astonishing, and sometimes deadly, powers.
As the extraordinary abilities genetically implanted in these Children of Genomex begin to surface, they find themselves caught between two opposing forces. On one side is Mutant X, a core group of powerful mutants led by the brilliant and mysterious multi-millionaire Adam (JOHN SHEA), who strive to help other new mutants master their abilities and protect them from those who would exploit or harm them. On the other is the Genetic Security Agency, the secret intelligence service under the command of Genomex security chief Mason Eckhart (TOM McCAMUS), whose mandate is to keep the existence of these anomalies, and the research that produced them, hidden from the public. The GSA's mission is to hunt down the new mutants and remove them from society.
The series stars JOHN SHEA as Adam, the strategist, tactician and moral centre of Mutant X and the only member of the team who is not a new mutant. Formerly the chief biogeneticist at Genomex, Adam was an unwitting participant in its human genetics program who believed his research was being applied to agricultural science studies and only in the abstract, to the possibility of human genetic enhancement. It was only when he confounded an attempt at industrial espionage that he learned the dark truths behind Genomex. Horrified by the knowledge of his complicity, as innocent as it might have been, he rolled his substantial fortune into a blind trust to finance the mountain stronghold called Sanctuary the headquarters of Mutant X. Adam is a visionary genius, a supremely charismatic and confident leader who has thoroughly prepared himself physically, mentally and emotionally for the arduous mission that lies ahead.
Also starring as members of the Mutant X team are:
VICTORIA PRATT (Cleopatra 2525, Xena: Warrior Princess) as Shalimar Fox, a fiery and feral beauty with both human and animal DNA, giving her the strength, speed and cunning of the animal kingdom;
VICTOR WEBSTER (The Lot, Days of Our Lives) as Brennan Mulwray, a tough street-wise rebel with irresistible charm whose body can generate enough electricity to power a small city;
FORBES MARCH (All My Children) as Jesse Kilmartin, the idealistic son of a corrupt multi-millionaire, who can alter the density of his body at will to become solid as a stone wall one minute, and able to walk through a stone wall the next;
LAUREN LEE SMITH (Christy:Choices of the Heart) as Emma deLauro, a beautiful and mischievous "telempath," who can transmit and receive feelings telepathically and affect the behaviour of those around her.
Filmed in Toronto, MUTANT X is based on a concept created by Executive Producer Avi Arad (Blade, X-Men) and is backed by an outstanding production team that also includes Executive Producers Rick Ungar (Biker Mice from Mars), Jay Firestone (Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda, Blonde, Cletis Tout) and Adam Haight (Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda, Blonde, Cletis Tout); Executive Consultant and Head Writer Howard Chaykin (The Flash, Viper, and the comics Son of Superman, American Flagg, Black Kiss and The Secret Society of Superheroes); Producer Jamie Paul Rock (La Femme Nikita, TekWar); Production Designer Rocco Matteo (La Femme Nikita); award-winning Costume Designer Laurie Drew (La Femme Nikita); Stunt Co-ordinator Marco Bianco (Cliffhanger, Driven); and Stunt/Fight Co-ordinator Paul Rapovski (John Woo's Once a Thief, Relic Hunter). The series' visual effects are produced by SPIN Entertainment (the IMAX film CyberWorld 3D, Bait).
Tribune Entertainment has cleared the weekly action hour in 146 U.S. markets, including 95 of the top 100 markets, representing 93% of the country. Fireworks Entertainment represents the program internationally.
MUTANT X is not based on the X-Men property and is in no way related to, licensed or approved by, or associated with the motion picture X-Men or Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation.
Fireworks Entertainment is a subsidiary of CanWest Entertainment, a division of CanWest Global Communications Corp., and is one of Canada's largest and fastest growing entertainment companies. Headquartered in Toronto and operating internationally with offices in Los Angeles, London and Dublin, Fireworks develops, produces, acquires and distributes an extensive slate of feature films and television programs throughout the world. The Fireworks library includes the action/adventure series Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda, starring Kevin Sorbo, produced in association with Tribune Entertainment, and Relic Hunter starring Tia Carrere, as well as the feature films Rat Race, starring an ensemble cast of John Cleese, Whoopi Goldberg, Rowan Atkinson and Cuba Gooding Jr., and Cletis Tout, starring Tim Allen and Christian Slater. For more information on Fireworks Entertainment, please visit the company's web site at www.watchfireworks.com.
CanWest Global Communications Corp. (NYSE: CWG; TSE: CGS.S and CGS.A; www.canwestglobal.com) is an international media company. CanWest, now Canada's largest publisher of daily newspapers owns, operates and/or holds substantial interests in newspapers, conventional television, out-of-home advertising, specialty cable channels, and radio networks in Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Ireland and the United Kingdom. The Company's program production and distribution division and interactive media division operate in several countries throughout the world.
Tribune Entertainment Company, a subsidiary of Tribune Broadcasting Company, is involved in the production and distribution of an extensive slate of programming, including the weekly action/adventure hours Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda, starring Kevin Sorbo and also produced in association with Fireworks Entertainment, Gene Roddenberry's Earth: Final Conflict, BeastMaster, the weekly Soul Train series, as well as numerous telefilms and television specials. Tribune Entertainment is set to launch its new reality relationship strip Talk Or Walk, off-net sitcom strip City Guys and children's animated series Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century, in addition to MUTANT X, in fall 2001. For more information on Tribune Entertainment, please visit the company's web site at www.tribtv.com.
Tribune Broadcasting owns and operates 22 major market television stations, including national superstation WGN. Tribune reaches more than 75 percent of U.S. television households, including cable and satellite coverage, and owns minority interests in The WB Television Network and the TV Food Network. Tribune also owns and operates four radio stations, including three stations in Denver and WGN-AM in Chicago. In addition, the company owns the Chicago Cubs baseball team.
With a library of more than 4,700 proprietary characters, Marvel Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE: MVL) is one of the world's most prominent character-based entertainment companies. Marvel's operations are focused in five divisions: entertainment (Marvel Studios), licensing, toys (Toy Biz), comic book publishing and Internet/New Media. Marvel facilitates the creation of entertainment projects, including feature films, television, home video and the Internet, based on its characters and also licenses its characters for use in a wide range of consumer products and services including video and computer games, apparel, collectibles, snack foods and promotions. Marvel's characters and plot lines are created by its comic book division which continues to maintain a leadership position in the U.S. and worldwide while also serving as an invaluable source of intellectual property. For additional information, visit the Marvel web site.