NBC’s fall lineup, announced yesterday, will feature a four-hour miniseries based on XIII, the popular action-conspiracy-thriller comic by Jean Van Hamme and William Vance.
Stephen Dorff and Val Kilmer will star as XIII and the assassin Mongoose.
XIII, originally serialized in 1984 in the Belgian comics magazine Spirou, begins with a man who washes up on the shore of the East Coast with no memory of who he is, and the only clue to his past is “XIII” tatooed on his neck. His search for his identity leads him to confront a plot to overthrow the U.S. government.
The first three volumes were released in English in 1989 by Catalan Communications. In 2005, Alias Comics began releasing the series in a monthly format but stopped after just five issues. Last year, in its partnership with Marvel, Dabel Bros. Productions published a collection of the first three albums.
April 3rd, 2008 at 6:49 am
Brilliant news! I just hope it gets shown here in the UK!
Now I want to know when the rest of the comics will be translated into English, then I’ll be very happy!
April 3rd, 2008 at 10:30 am
This should be successful, XIII is very Bourne.
April 3rd, 2008 at 11:13 am
JASON BOURNE COMES TO TV!! Sweet
April 3rd, 2008 at 11:23 am
Go Belgium!
April 3rd, 2008 at 11:31 am
The main article says he is found wandering around a forest, normally changes to stories like that annoy me but I can totally understand them changing bits of the story after the popularity of the Bourne films.
April 3rd, 2008 at 11:35 am
Yeah…
Hope they don’t go to far though, ’cause from volume 5 on it’s really, really not good stuff, it gets lamier and lamier every album.
Still, pretty good news.
April 3rd, 2008 at 1:43 pm
Man, I hope NBC has talked to Robert Ludlum about this, because even if they SAY its based off that comic, that comic is definitely based off Ludlum’s book. They are wide open for a lawsuit if this is as successful as it looks to become.
April 3rd, 2008 at 6:51 pm
NBC can talk to the dead?
April 3rd, 2008 at 8:07 pm
Yeah, watch out, NBC, because Ludlum owned the patent on amnesia and the action-conspiracy-thriller genre.
April 4th, 2008 at 11:05 am
To be fair, the comic does pretty much rip-off The Bourne Identity to start with, but then goes off in it’s own very different direction. Van Hamme has even admitted it was influenced by The Bourne Identity. I think changing the opening setting is enough for people not to cry “rip-off” when it is broadcast, just as long as the rest of the plot stays close to the comic.
April 6th, 2008 at 12:30 am
And 25 years before the Bourne Identity was published there was “Coronet Blue” on TV. It featured a man who washes up on the shore and he has amnesia but people are trying to kill him.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronet_Blue
April 21st, 2008 at 11:02 pm
Did anyone play the XIII video game? It was a really fun FPS in a cel-shaded style. Good time.
December 22nd, 2008 at 5:08 pm
Yes, I played the game, was very good, enjoyable. I’ve watched the 2 part miniseries, its a great effort, only relates to the game slightly. Does anybody know if there will be any more to the series than the 2 episodes?