Syfy Unveils New Saturday Night Movies

NEW YORK: A range of classic fairy tales, legends and pop-culture characters will be reimagined for Syfy’s new line of Saturday night original movies, kicking off with Beauty and the Beast on February 27.

Beauty and the Beast stars Estella Warren as a young woman with a gift for healing who helps a deformed Prince (Rhett Gilles) regain his throne and defeat the ruthless nobleman who wants to be king. The movie was directed by David Lister and written by Gavin Scott. Meanwhile, projects in development for the new line of films include Red, about a young woman who is a descendant of the real Little Red Riding Hood; Hansel, in which the fairy tale character, all grown up, returns to the haunted forest, seeking revenge; as well as 8th Voyage of Sinbad, Aladdin and Black Forest.

Thomas Vitale, the executive VP of programming and original movies at Syfy, said: "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."