Spike TV Greenlights ‘Blade’ Series

Blade, the Marvel Comics vampire slayer featured in trilogy of big-screen movies, is coming to the small screen and will star rapper/Onyx group member Kirk "Sticky Fingaz" Jones. Spike TV has green-lighted a television series based on the super hero that will serve as the network’s first original scripted series. "Blade" will follow the adventures […]

Blade, the Marvel

Comics vampire slayer featured in trilogy of big-screen movies, is coming to

the small screen and will star rapper/Onyx group member Kirk "Sticky Fingaz"

Jones.

Spike TV has green-lighted

a television series based on the super hero that will serve as the network’s

first original scripted series.

"Blade"

will follow the adventures of an immortal half-man half-vampire who uses his

superhuman powers and skills to battle a shadowy underworld of vampires who

want to destroy the human race.

Jones will star

as Blade with a supporting cast that includes Jill Wagner ("Monk"),

Neil Jackson ("Stargate SG-1"), Nelson Lee ("Traffic," the

TV mini-series) and Jessica Gower ("Blurred").

Eleven one-hour

episodes of the show have been ordered by Spike TV, in addition to a two-hour

pilot episode.

The series, which

will be produced by New Line Television, will begin production in Vancouver

this spring.

"We’re extremely

pleased with the pilot for ‘Blade,’ which delivers a thrilling action-adventure

for its built-in fan base as well as a character-driven drama filled with heart-pounding

tension and suspense," said Pancho Mansfield, executive vice president,

original programming at Spike TV. "The series will be the first of our

scripted fare as we embark on creating a greater mix of original programming

for our viewers."

Although the weekly

series will maintain continuity from the successful trilogy, a new storyline

and new characters will be introduced. Acclaimed screenwriter and executive

producer David S. Goyer ("Blade" trilogy and "Batman Begins")

and popular comic book writer Geoff Johns who worked on the "Blade"

tele-movie, will also produce the series.

The tele-movie

is directed by Peter O’Fallon ("Suicide Kings," "American Gothic").

Best known as

"Sticky Fingaz," a member of the rap group Onyx, Jones has appeared

in a variety of films, including Clockers, Dead Presidents and

Flight of the Phoenix.

Most recently,

he appeared regularly on FX’s "Over There" and "The Shield."

"Blade"

premieres on Spike TV in June 2006.