Wizard's First Rule Scheduled for Late-Fall Launch

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Disney-ABC’s action-adventure series, Wizard’s First Rule, executive-produced by Spiderman’s Sam Raimi, will premiere the weekend of Nov. 1 in national syndication, the company said Thursday.

Shot in New Zealand, the series stars Craig Horner as woodsman Richard Cypher, who discovers that he has magical powers. Cypher is helped by mystery woman Kahlan (Bridget Regan) and a wise old wizard named Zedd as he works to stop a tyrant from unleashing an ancient evil and enslaving the world.

The series is based on the best-selling novels by Terry Goodkind.

Wizard’s First Rule has been cleared in 95% of the country, with the Tribune stations serving as the primary launch group. The show is expected to air on weekend afternoons, access and prime.

The series marks ABC Studios’ first venture into broadcast syndication, and it is executive-produced by Raimi, Rob Tapert, Joshua Donen, Ned Nalle and Kenneth Biller.

Paige Albiniak
Paige Albiniak

Contributing editor Paige Albiniak has been covering the business of television for more than 25 years. She is a longtime contributor to Next TV, Broadcasting + Cable and Multichannel News. She concurrently serves as editorial director for The Global Entertainment Marketing Academy of Arts & Sciences (G.E.M.A.). She has written for such publications as TVNewsCheck, The New York Post, Variety, CBS Watch and more. Albiniak was B+C’s Los Angeles bureau chief from September 2002 to 2004, and an associate editor covering Congress and lobbying for the magazine in Washington, D.C., from January 1997 - September 2002.