LONDON -- Flashpoint, the U.K. entertainment financing company, will invest between $20 million and $25 million in "The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne," a lavish TV drama series that is set to start shooting in Montreal this June.
The series, comprising 22 one-hour episodes with a total budget of $30 million, is a co-production between London-based Talisman Films and Los Angeles-based Crest Films, under the name the Jules Verne Partnership.
Worldwide sales will be handled by Chicago-based Global Programming Network.
The series is based loosely on the stories of Jules Verne, the father of science fiction. The premise is that the extraordinary events related by Verne in his novels such as "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea," "Around the World in 80 Days" and "Journey to the Center of the Earth" were actually based on the author's real-life experiences as a young man, which are the subject of the series.
This is Flashpoint's first major investment of its own money in a TV series, although it was also heavily involved in structuring the finance for "The New Professionals." The company has already invested $120 million in low-budget movie slates over the past six months, and has 30 films currently in production.
"The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne" is created by Gavin Scott, who co-wrote "The Borrowers" and the upcoming "Small Soldiers." He also collaborated with George Lucas on "The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles."
It is produced by Michael Mullally, and exec produced by Scott, Richard Jackson and Neil Dunn of Talisman, along with underwater expert Pierre de Lespinois and his partner Michael Huffington, the former California politico.
"The adventures will transpire in the most exciting locations in the world -- Napoleon III's Paris, the steppes of Russia, the jungles of India, the highlands of East Africa, the depths of the Atlantic Ocean, the tombs of Egypt, the battlefields of the American Civil War and the Wild West," said Scott. "Each episode will provide an hour of amazing science fiction, awesome effects, romance, comedy and action with a group of characters we have come to know and like."
"This is a very important investment for us, and we're convinced it will be hugely successful," said Flashpoint director Beau Rogers. "It's our first major TV series, and we'll be looking to do more."
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