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FOX and Ridley Scott’s “The Passage” Has its Lead Vampire
Mark-Paul Gosselaar, who many of us grew up watching on “Saved by the Bell”, has nabbed the lead role in Fox’s post-apocalyptic pilot “The Passage”, which hails from executive producers Ridley Scott and Matt Reeves, Variety reported.
The project was rolled over from the typical pilot season with plans to go into production this summer, and is still in contention for the 2017-2018 television season. The pilot will shoot this month in Atlanta.
Along with Gosselaar, Fox has cast Saniyya Sidney (“American Horror Story: Roanoke”), Genesis Rodriguez (Tusk, Yoga Hosers), Brianne Howey, BJ Britt, and Jennifer Ferrin in leading roles.
“The Passage” is based on Justin Cronin’s best-selling trilogy of the same name, and is described as an epic, character-driven thriller that morphs into a post-apocalyptic odyssey, which spans over a century and is told across two timelines. The story focuses on a 10-year-old girl named Amy Bellafonte (Sidney) who must save the human race. Gosselaar will play an FBI agent, who balks at kidnapping Amy, who has been targeted for an unholy government experiment and goes on the run with her with a veritable army of feds on his heels.
The hourlong drama hails writer Liz Heldens, who will executive produce with Scott, Matt Reeves, Adam Kassan, David W. Zucker and Marcos Siega who will direct the pilot. 20th Century Fox Television is the studio. Scott is producing through his Scott Free banner and Reeves through his 6th & Idaho shingle.
Sam Neill, the New Zealand actor best known for his role in 1993’s Jurassic Park, has passed away this week at 78 years old. In a statement shared on Neill’s Instagram page this morning, the actor’s family said that his passing was “sudden and unexpected.”
Neill had been diagnosed with a rare blood cancer in 2022, but stated the following year that he was in remission. The family notes that he “remained cancer free” at the time of his passing.
The family statement reads, “It is with immense sadness that the whānau of Sam Neill share the news of his passing on Monday 13th July, in Sydney Australia. Sam was surrounded by family and passed with the dignity that has characterised his whole life. The loss was sudden and unexpected but blessed by the fact that Sam remained cancer free.
“They would like to express their deepest gratitude to the staff at St Vincent’s Private Hospital for their incredible care. More details will be shared later, but for now, on behalf of the family, we ask that you respect their privacy as they navigate this immeasurable loss.”
In addition to his iconic role as Dr. Alan Grant in the original Jurassic Park and the sequels Jurassic Park III and Jurassic World: Dominion, Sam Neill left an indelible mark on the horror genre with memorable roles in Andrzej Żuławski’s Possession, The Omen: The Final Conflict, John Carpenter’s In the Mouth of Madness, and sci-fi horror favorite Event Horizon.
Sam Neill’s vast resume in film and television began in the early 1970s and also includes the films Sleeping Dogs, Enigma, The Good Wife, A Cry in the Dark, Dead Calm, The Hunt for Red October, Memoirs of an Invisible Man, Hostage, The Jungle Book, Snow White: A Tale of Terror, The Horse Whisperer, Bicentennial Man, Daybreakers, Escape Plan, and Thor: Ragnarok.
Sam Neill is survived by his four children and eight grandchildren.
Steven Spielberg said in a statement to Variety, “I owe a debt of gratitude to Roger Donaldson, Gilliam Armstrong, Graham Baker and Phillip Noyce for casting Sam Neill in the roles in which he was so brilliant that brought him to my attention and led to his playing Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic Park. Sam was exceptionally collaborative. It was a stretch for him to play a character who acted as though children were messy and smelly because this was the opposite of the loving father he was to his children. I adored making all the Jurassic movies with him.”
Spielberg adds, “Along with Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, we will always have our Jurassic family and Sam will never be forgotten by us or his many millions of fans around the world.”
Sam Neill in ‘Event Horizon’
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