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For you Von Trier fans.

(which i'm not, but i did like "Riget"/"The Kingdom",
& i am a King fan ... so, i thought this was weird.)

http://www.cnn.com/2001/SHOWBIZ/TV/07/23/television.abc.reut/index.html

Stephen King to create ABC 'Kingdom'

HOLLYWOOD, California (Reuters) -- The 2001-02 season hasn't
even started yet, but ABC is already prepping for 2002-03:
The network has given an initial 15-hour commitment to a weekly
drama series from horrormeister Stephen King, Daily Variety
reports.

The series, "The Kingdom," will bow with a two-hour movie,
followed by 13 hourlong weekly episodes. King will serve as
executive producer and write most of the episodes himself.

The project was announced Sunday by ABC Entertainment Television
Group co-chairmen Stu Bloomberg and Lloyd Braun during the
network's portion of the summer Television Critics Assn. press
tour.

Most questions focused on programming and whether ABC will be
able to improve its Nielsen performance this fall after a largely
disappointing 2000-01 season. Braun and Bloomberg were, not
surprisingly, optimistic.

"In a year when many of us believe that any of the major networks
are one big hit away from being No. 1, we really feel that we are
well-positioned to find that hit," Braun said.

King's series practically 'a sure thing'

As for the King-penned "The Kingdom," Bloomberg said the project
"is about as close as you can get" to a "sure thing."

"The Kingdom," based on "Dancer in the Dark" scribe-helmer Lars
von Trier's 1994 Danish miniseries of the same name, revolves
around a haunted hospital built over an ancient graveyard. The
doctors in the hospital refuse to believe in the possibility that
unseen forces or mystical powers could be behind the odd
goings-on at the hospital, such as a phantom ambulance that
visits the hospital each evening.

Sony's Columbia TriStar Television had been developing the
project as a feature, but opted to go the series route when King
signaled his willingness to adapt the project for ABC. Columbia
TriStar will produce in association with ABC sibling Touchstone
TV.

Columbia TriStar Television president Tom Mazza called King "a
master of terrifying tales. It's exciting that we're putting his
words into motion for television."

ABC is treating "The Kingdom" as a series rather than a mini-
series, leaving open the possibility of additional seasons.

ABC movies and miniseries chief Susan Lyne said King will pen the
project, "so there's a big bang, a strong finale for the key
storyline (of the first 15 hours)."

"But he'll also leave a lot of other storylines open," she said.

While King has been interested in a hospital-themed project for
some time, Lyne said the scribe's recent medical woes -- he was
run over by a van in 1999 -- may have played a role in his
committing to the project now.

"He always admired the miniseries, but the fact that he's spent
so much time in hospitals lately certainly sparked his
imagination," she said.

King's last foray into series television was his 1991 CBS summer
series "Golden Years," which ran for several weeks.

He has been much more prolific in creating miniseries, adapting
or creating original projects for the small screen such as "The
Shining," "The Stand," "Storm of the Century," "IT" and "The
Tommyknockers." His next ABC miniseries, "Rose Red," is slated to
air next season.

Von Trier wrote the original "Kingdom" as a five-hour miniseries
for Danish television titled "Riget." It was distributed
internationally as a motion picture and spawned a 1997 sequel.