Sam Raimi Bringing Wizard’s First Rule

Director Sam Raimi is teaming with Disney-ABC Domestic Television and ABC Studios on a new first-run, live-action weekly series targeted for a fall launch. The series, Wizard’s First Rule, is based on Terry Goodkind’s best-selling epic fantasy series The Sword of Truth. The book follows the extraordinary transformation of woodsman Richard Cypher into a magical leader who joins with a mysterious woman to stop a bloodthirsty tyrant.

Raimi is executive producing the hourlong series with Robert Tapert, Joshua Donen and Xena: Warrior Princess production executive Ned Nalle. Production on 22 episodes is slated to begin in May. The show marks the return of the weekly syndicated fantasy series genre, which had disappeared after its heyday in the late 1990s with Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena. Disney is bringing the show to the syndication marketplace for a fall launch.