XIII [Showcase - CA]

Richard Dower · 19-09-2010 8:45pm #1

New conspiracy thriller series starring Stuart Townsend slated to premiere Spring 2011

Production on the one-hour conspiracy thriller drama, XIII commenced September 13 in Toronto and surrounding areas. Stuart Townsend (The League of Extraordinary Gentleman, Queen of the Damned) headlines the series as XIII, a skilled and lethal former secret agent who can’t remember his past and sets out on a quest to uncover his true identity. The 13 episode Canada-France original series is set to premiere on Showcase in Spring 2011.

Hunted by a dark anti-government organization, XIII quickly realizes that the closer he gets to uncovering the riddle of his past life, the more complex and deadly his mission becomes. Alongside Townsend, XIII stars Aisha Tyler (24, CSI, Friends) as Jones, a top CIA operator and XIII’s past flame, Virginie Ledoyen (The Beach) as Irina, a mercenary hired by the former U.S. President to track XIII, and Caterina Murino (Casino Royale) as Sam, XIII’s trustworthy ally and love interest. Other key cast members include Greg Bryk (Saw V, Cra$h & Burn) as Amos, a national security officer, Stephen McHattie (Happy Town, 2012) as President Carrington and Ted Atherton (The Border) as Wally Sheridan, the former U.S. President and a possible traitor.

XIII is developed and produced by Prodigy Pictures and French production company Cipango, the television division of Luc Besson’s Europacorp (La Femme Nikita). In addition to airing in Canada on Showcase, the series will air on Canal Plus in France as part of their international original programming.

The creative forces behind XIII include Prodigy Pictures’ Jay Firestone, Executive Producer, along with Cipango’s Edouard De Vésinne and Thomas Anargyros. Frederic Bruneel will co-produce the series. Gil Grant (NCIS: Los Angeles, 24) wrote the pilot and is the series’ Showrunner and also an Executive Producer. Peter Mohan (Lost Girl, The Bridge) will act as Co-Executive Producer for the series along with Damien Couvreur. Duane Clark (CSI: NY, XIII: The Conspiracy) will also be a Co-Executive Producer and direct three of the 13 episodes. Other directors include Xavier Palud and Philippe Haim. Wanda Chaffey serves as Producer on the series.

XIII is based on Jean Van Hamme’s popular graphic novel of the same name, which has sold more than 13 million copies worldwide since the first volume was published 25 years ago.

26-09-2010 1:25pm

Is this also based around that video game? It would be interesting if they keep the same style.

Skerries · 26-09-2010 4:40pm

there was already a mini series starring Stephen Dorf of XIII

humanji · 27-09-2010 11:27am

Deleted User wrote: »

Is this also based around that video game? It would be interesting if they keep the same style.

It was based on a comic that was a rip off of Bourne Identity, I think. The game was off that comic too.

Vokes · 27-09-2010 12:02pm

That Canadian-produced mini-series with Stephen Dorff and Val Kilmer was terrible. Awesome game though.

Richard Dower · 23-01-2011 3:30am

Starts in April, Tom Berenger to guest star: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/tom-berenger-guest-star-xiii-72006

Episode titles:

1.01 Pilot
1.02 Green Falls
1.03 Lockdown
1.04 The Irish Version
1.05 Training Camp
1.06 Costa Verde
1.07 TBA
1.08 The Hunting Party
1.09 The Bank Job
1.10 The Train
1.11 The Bunker
1.12 The Key
1.13 Revelation

youngblood · 23-01-2011 2:05pm

Has disaster written all over it.

Is it me or does Stuart Townsend just give every project the kiss of death???????

Richard Dower · 04-03-2011 5:33pm

http://collider.com/xiii-the-series-tv-show-images/77283/

What if America’s Public Enemy #1 became Homeland Security’s #1 secret weapon?

XIII is the story of a man’s quest to uncover the truth about his identity. Named for the Roman numeral tattooed on his neck, XIII is a former secret operative who cannot remember his past. Hunted by a dark anti-government organization, XIII searches for clues that will lead him to who he is, and to the secret he carries that makes him so valuable—and so potentially dangerous. To gain information, the highly-trained XIII must take on missions from those he cannot trust, including the former President Sheridan, a possible traitor. Complicating matters, XIII is torn between two women: Sam, his friend and ally, and the enigmatic Jones, a Secret Service operative with whom XIII was once involved. Conspiracy, secrets and mistrust: XIII’s world is a dangerous place.

Mr E · 23-03-2011 8:53am

Split from Endgame thread.

Richard Dower · 23-03-2011 10:24am

It's made by Besson's EuropaCorp so i think it might have some good action, some eps. were filmed in France.

JP Liz V1 · 23-03-2011 5:56pm

humanji wrote: »

It was based on a comic that was a rip off of Bourne Identity, I think. The game was off that comic too.

Yes it sounds very like the Bourne series

Richard Dower · 24-03-2011 12:09am

^ is that a bad thing?

JP Liz V1 · 24-03-2011 3:46pm

Richard Dower wrote: »

^ is that a bad thing?

No and with Human Target over and maybe cancelled this could fill the void for me plus Stuart is hot

Mr E · 19-04-2011 7:23pm

Seems like the first two episodes of this are out now.

calex71 · 20-04-2011 1:03am

Mr E wrote: »

Seems like the first two episodes of this are out now.

French dubbed avoid !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well unless you speak french, there should be english eps out in the mornin. Canada got it before the US.

JohnnyRyan99 · 20-04-2011 1:16am

I loved the video game! No nothing more than this about it, might give it a look seeing as i loved the game..... or is there any point?

Richard Dower · 20-04-2011 3:46am

It starts TONIGHT on Showcase, episode 1+2....but BE AWARE...there are FAKE files floating about right now. What they actually are is the French rips from Canal+....with the langage dubbed into French.

It's airing tonight in Canada with the original English language....gonna check this out!

Jelle1880 · 20-04-2011 11:11am

How old are the Bourne books ?
Because the comics of XIII are fairly old.

stevenmu · 20-04-2011 11:29am

Bourne Identity was 1980.

Jelle1880 · 20-04-2011 1:21pm

Ah yeah, but it was never hidden that the Bourne books were an inspiration.

The comics are nice, I loved the game as well with it's specific style.

Richard Dower · 20-04-2011 9:13pm

New Canadian promo, starts tonight: http://www.spoilertv.com/2011/04/xiii-series-showcase-promo.html

Jimmyboss · 22-04-2011 11:28am

Any update.....unable to find a (ahem) ''source'' to watch it.......

calex71 · 22-04-2011 11:39am

Jimmyboss wrote: »

Any update.....unable to find a (ahem) ''source'' to watch it.......

Did it actually air

Every listing site / google search for news and review of it even have yielded nothing, or even any talk of the show. Very strange indeed.

Everywhere does have it listed as aired on April 20th.

Richard Dower · 22-04-2011 3:36pm

It did air, but it's not out.....Showcase do repeat it, maybe it was missed?....sometimes you do see delays in Canadian shows being posted, Endgame sometimes takes a few days to pop up, other times within hours.

Richard Dower · 23-04-2011 10:46pm

English version of episode one appears to be out, webrip....no sign of episode 2.
[edit] - it's legit, Showcase logo, English etc.
[edit 2] - appears to also be a French rip of both episodes, in English language....i'll report back on them if they're legit.

calex71 · 23-04-2011 11:26pm

Richard Dower wrote: »

English version of episode one appears to be out, webrip....no sign of episode 2.
[edit] - it's legit, Showcase logo, English etc.
[edit 2] - appears to also be a French rip of both episodes, in English language....i'll report back on them if they're legit.

I don't know about ep 2 but just finished ep 1 and it's 100% legit. It's no web rip. Was very very hard to come by lol.

As for ep 1 itself, i have to go back and watch the mini series now. It was good , my kind of thing but nothing very original or anything we havn't seen before. Many of the cast from the mini series are back and the plot does link back to it, they do explain it but not well enough for you not to have seen it before going on with the series.

Townsend is good in the role but you could have put any number of actors in to do the same job, filming and style is very similar to nikita and flash point. I.E it looks and feels canadian

Edit: Was wrecking my head trying to work out where else I knew the black girl from and it was only when I started watching and saw the intro credits to this weeks Archer it clicked, Aiesha Tyler is Lana in Archer

Richard Dower · 24-04-2011 12:29am

^ is it really nesscary to see the mini series to watch this?, as in nesscary context etc?

calex71 · 24-04-2011 12:41am

Richard Dower wrote: »

^ is it really nesscary to see the mini series to watch this?, as in nesscary context etc?

Hmmm you see I saw it and don't remember it well enough which was annoying for me. If you didn't see it at all it might actually be a plus, but it does directly recall parts of the mini on more than one occasion and relationships with more than 1 character have already been established in the mini.

Edit : actually the whole political thing and set up in the US is glossed over etc without the history of the main players explained in great detail. we are given BULLET POINTS in the pilot

Richard Dower · 24-04-2011 2:53pm

720p out now.

Green Falls

XIII and Sam follow a clue from Sheridan to Green Falls, a small town where XIII may have grown up.As XIII begins to ask questions about himself and his father, who is a local reporter, XIII stirs up old secrets and modern-day violence.

In the end, XIII learns his boyhood name, but also is driven to solve the murder of the father he never knew and a corporate scheme to hide the deaths of hundreds of workers.

XIII also learns that he was conscripted into a CIA training program when he was away at college. The more answers he gets, the more mysterious his past seems to be.

Lockdown

Chasing another lead from Sheridan, XIII gets himself thrown into a brutal Venezuelan prison in search of a prisoner who might have worked with XIII when he was a CIA operative.

The problem is getting to this prisoner – Sanchez - a powerful personality who inspired the prisoners to fight for their rights. He’s been declared insane and locked away in a high security area. XIII must fight off attacks from both prisoners and guards as he attempts to sneak into the secure medical ward and get the information he needs.

When corrupt CIA chief, Giordino gets involved and forces XIII to do a dangerous side mission for him in the prison, it seems that even if XIII gets the information he needs, he might wind up spending the rest of his life behind the bars of this brutal institution.

Richard Dower · 28-04-2011 9:30pm

Episode 2 is out, i watched ep. 1 - i didn't like it. Very sketchy, disjointed, sub par acting and production values. None of the characters are appealing....but i'll give it a couple more to see how it goes.

calex71 · 30-04-2011 2:24pm

Watched it last night, same as the 1st one, I could easily keep watching it but like I said about the 1st one it's nothing that hasn't been done before and better elsewhere. I would not lose sleep over not finding out what happens.

I agree with you Richard about the characters, I simply don't care about them.

XIII [Showcase - CA]

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