Armed with 15,000 hours of two-fisted, two-footed programming from studios
including Warner Bros. and Sony Pictures, the producers of the Mortal
Kombat film franchise are looking to launch Blackbelt TV, a 24-hour martial-arts cable network.
The network will mix old and new films (Enter the Dragon, Double
Impact) with TV series (King Fu, for one) and real-life fighting from
around the world, including kickboxing, karate, boxing and judo, as well as
self-defense instruction and health and fitness shows.
Just in case the fighting wasn't enough, the channel will be fronted by
"gorgeous female 'fight jocks' who will provide humorous, sexy and
no-holds-barred interstitial commentary."
Principal backers of the channel are The Threshold.TV Inc., Fusient Media
Ventures and Sirius Investment Corp.
Heading up Blackbelt TV as chairman will be Larry Kasanoff, who earned his
action chops with the Mortal Kombat franchise. In addition, he was cofounder
with James Cameron of Lightstorm Entertainment Inc., where he oversaw production of
Terminator II: Judgment Day.
There was no word on launch date or any sign-ups.
