Starz blasts off with 'Dead Space'

Pacts with EA for animated feature

By BEN FRITZ

'Dead Space'

Starz Media is jumping into "Dead Space" with Electronic Arts, pacting to make an animated feature tied into the sci-fi horror vidgame launching this fall.

Starz' Film Roman unit is producing a film that serves as a prequel to the game, picking up where a comic that is being made by Image Comics leaves off.

"Dead Space" is part of a larger deal between the two companies. Starz has two other animation projects in development tied to EA franchises.

Starz is in talks with broadcasters worldwide to distribute the pic on TV and will also put it out on DVD through its Anchor Bay subsid and online.

"Due to the richness and complexity of stories that have evolved for videogames, they have become a type of entertainment that can span generations and provide fantastic inspiration for other forms of media, especially in the realm of animated features," Film Roman prexy Scott Greenberg said in a statement.